Ottawa, ON – The Canadian 13-15 National Team took a strong 5th place at the 2017 COMEN Mediterranean Cup in Mealhada, Portugal, held at Mealhada’s Municipality Pool Complex on August 3-6.
In 4th place after the preliminary round and the figures event, the team was edged by Italy in the finals on Sunday to finish 5th with a final combined score of 149.1735. Russia took home the gold medal with 165.0633, silver went to Spain with a score of 157.3849 while the United States won bronze with 151.3422. The swimmers were: Rosalie Boissonneault, 14 (Drummondville, QC), Jaime Czarkowski, 13 (Calgary, AB), Marissa Enns, 14 (Toronto, ON), Scarlett Finn, 15 (Toronto, ON), Mikaëlle Gauthier, 15 (Gatineau, QC), Flynne Gossling, 14 (Toronto, ON), Teah Hoffman, 14 (Calgary, AB) and Audrey Veilleux, 15 (St-Jérôme, QC). Nathalie Greenfield, 14 (Calgary, AB), Taissia Kutnyk, 15 (Montréal, QC), Jade Warren, 15 (Ottawa, ON) and Madeline Whitten, 15 (Toronto, ON) were the alternates.
The team members were selected last June at the 2017 Canadian Espoir Championships and started training in the beginning of July at the Toronto Pan Am Sport Centre (TPASC). The team was led by Head Coach Jennifer Tregale (Calgary, AB) and her assistants Elena Podolsky (Kitchener, ON) and Laura Swift (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC).
Canada also had entries in the solo and duet events. Teah Hoffman (Calgary, AB), a returning 13-15 National Team member from 2016, took part in the solo competition and finished in 9th position. Antonina Bazlova from Russia finished in first place, followed by Irene Jimeno of Spain in second position and Vera Butsel from Belarus in third.
The duet of Scarlett Finn and Flynne Gossling, both from Toronto, finished in 5th place. The Russian duet won the gold medal, silver went to the Spanish duet and the Americans won the bronze. Jaime Czarkowski was the alternate for Canada’s duet.
Head Coach Tregale was satisfied with last weekend’s performances: “The Med Cup was a great competition and the Canadian Team did a fantastic job. With 9 new members to the National Team, the athletes worked hard for a month in Toronto and presented three great routines at the competition in Portugal. The team competed against the top teams from Russia, Spain, Italy and the USA. The athletes had some excellent performances in all three routine events and figures.”
She also expressed her thanks to the entire support team: “I would like to extend a huge thank you to my Assistant Coaches, Elena Podolsky and Laura Swift. Also a big thanks to Louise Kennedy, our judge, to Ashley Hines as our apprentice coach at the competition and to Chihiro Ishii and Renee Matte for their excellent work as apprentice coaches throughout the camp. Pat McCann, thank you for being our Team Leader, and ultimately Team Nurse! Thank you also to Julie Healy and Sheilagh Croxon for their help in preparing the team throughout the camp and competition.”
For all COMEN Med Cup results, visit the event page.