Canada stages comeback to finish 6th at Junior World Championships

Helsinki, August 2, 2014 – Canada climbed one spot in the overall standings to finish sixth in the team event on Saturday at the FINA World Junior Championships in synchronized swimming. 

In team competition, Canada was sitting seventh after the preliminaries and figures scores. “After figures results came out on Friday, we have to honestly say that we were very disappointed”, mentions Head Coach Jenn Tregale. “Hearing we had dropped to 7th place in team was the worst news we could hear. But as the proud Canadians we are, we knew that all we could do was give it everything we have and aim for our best performance ever.”

In the short time between preliminaries and finals, the team managed to stay really focused and work together towards their goals of synchronization, small patterns, great execution and WOW highlights.

Swimming ahead of the sixth place Italians, the Canadians put together a dazzling final based on their theme “Yoga” that earned them 158.0493 points.

“The team came together and pulled off the best swim of their time together”, mentioned a proud Tregale. “They had great highlights, good patterns, and great energy.”

When the marks for Italy came up, the Canadians knew they had the sixth place locked up. “What a great comeback for this young team”, said Tregale. “To say we are proud of this team is a huge understatement. They have improved so much in the past 8 weeks, it is unbelievable. We have enjoyed working with them every day and seeing them grow and develop as a team.”

Russia took the gold with 167.9395 points, Japan was second at 166.0544 and China third at 162.9142.

Canadian Head Coach Jenn Tregale, who also led the country’s National Team at the Junior World Championships in 2012 in Greece, was very thankful to everyone who has helped the team along the way: “Lilianne Grenier, Jadine Cleary, Meng Chen, Diane Van der Pol and Lisa Schott, thank you for everything you have done for us during this high-level, high-stress event. Your support means the world to all of us. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Genevieve Beauregard-Ross and Elena Podolsky for making this past 2 months so amazing. It has been such a great time and I appreciate both of you so much.”

Canadian duet also finishes sixth

In duet, Clare McGovern and Erica Slavin (alternate: Wenjing Deng) finished sixth with 159.3883 points. Anastasia and Daria Bayandina of Russia were the winners at 168.8498, Kano Omata and Sakiko Tasaki of Japan a very close second at 168.7142 and Liuyi and Qianyi Wang of China third at 162.9053.  

“We are very pleased with our performance today,” said the pair. “Between prelims and finals, we put a lot of attention on our presentation. We were very proud that we showed off our great smiles. Even after only 8 weeks together, we looked like a duet that had been together for a long time. We really went all out in the swim with a lot of energy and pushed hard until the end.”

Competition ends Sunday with the solo and team combo finals. Canadian Jacqueline Simoneau, who came in first in the figures competition on Friday, stands third in solo after the prelims and figures.

About Synchro Canada

Synchro Canada is the national organization governing synchronized swimming in Canada. It represents 10 provincial associations, a territorial association, as well as some 150 clubs and 12,000 members across Canada. A member of FINA, the world’s governing aquatic sports organization, Synchro Canada promotes the quest for excellence by developing the athletes, citizens and ambassadors of the sport of synchronized swimming at every level.

Synchro Canada would like to thank its sponsors:

Program partners: Sport Canada, Own The Podium, the Institut national du sport du Québec

Official Aquatic Supplier: Speedo Canada

Official make up: MAKE UP FOR EVER

Official suppliers: Knox Gelatine, AdUp, National Car Rental

Official hotel: Hilton Hotels Canada

For further information, visit Synchro Canada’s Website at www.synchro.ca or follow Synchro Canada on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

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For information:

Stéphane Côté

Synchro Canada

Communications Coordinator