Strong opening performances for Canada's Junior National Team at 2014 World Juniors

Helsinki, July 30, 2014 – Synchro Canada’s 2014 Junior National Team is in sixth and seventh place respectively in the team and duet prelims events following the first day of the FINA World Junior Championships being held in Helsinki, Finland, until Sunday.

In the team event, the Canadians scored 84.500 points with their “Yoga” routine and is currently in sixth place.

Canadian swimmers are : Andrée-Anne Côté (SynchroÉlite de Québec, St-Georges, QC), Wenjing Deng (Granite Synchro, Whitby, ON), Rebecca Harrower (Dollard Synchro, Edmonton, AB), Cossette Leblanc (Burlington Olympium Synchro Club, Toronto, ON), Clare McGovern (Granite Synchro, Toronto, ON), Halle Pratt (Calgary Aquabelles, Calgary, AB), Erica Slavin (Calgary Aquabelles, Calgary, AB) and Kali Wong (Calgary Aquabelles, Calgary, AB). The alternates are Abby Russell (Calgary Aquabelles, Calgary, AB) and Madeline Walker-Byron (Granite Synchro, Ottawa, ON).

Russia is leading with 89.5667 points, followed by Japan (88.9000) and Ukraine (88.0333). China, Spain and Canada are next, separated by 3.5 points behind third place.

“The coaches are proud of the girls’ performance today in the pool”, said Synchro Canada’s 2014 Junior National Team head coach Jenn Tregale (Calgary, Calgary Aquabelles), supported by assistant coaches Genevieve Beauregard-Ross (Laval, Dollard Synchro) and Elena Podolsky (Toronto, Olympium Synchro). “They had great synchronization, small patterns and displayed fantastic energy throughout the routine. The team knows exactly what they need to do to have their ultimate swim in finals. We are now focussing on figures for Friday morning.”

In 7th position after the duet preliminary event

In the duet preliminaries event, held in the morning, Clare McGovern and Erica Slavin (alternate: Wenjing Deng) broke the ice at the FINA World Junior Championships by being the first ones to swim in this competition and this event which includes 27 pairs. They are currently in seventh spot with 83.9667 points with their routine titled “Goddesses of War”.

Anastasia and Daria Bayandina from Russia are first with 91.1667 points, followed by Kano Omata and Asuka Tasaki from Japan with 88.7333 points and Oleksandra Kashuba and Anastasiya Savchuk from Ukraine with 88.5333 points. China (88.3000), Spain (87.0333) and Italy (84.6000) are in front of Canada.

The final event will be held on Saturday. The final ranking will also include the average of both athletes’ figures marks. This event will be held on Friday.

“Erica and Clare had a very good prelims swim and we are extremely pleased with their performance”, said Tregale and Beauregard-Ross, the pair’s coaches. “As a new pairing, they have come so far in just 8 weeks. The routine choreography suits them well and they performed it as such. In finals there are a few minor things to improve on, but we are looking forward to a big performance from these girls.”

“We are extremely encouraged by our performance today and how far we have come as a duet in the short time we’ve been together”, said Clare McGovern and Erica Slavin. “We felt we showed our energy through to the end of the routine and had a very solid prelims swim. We are very motivated to start our routine off with a bang in finals and leave it all in the pool.”

The competition continues tomorrow with the solo prelims event. Canada’s soloist, Jacqueline Simoneau, is the bronze medalist in the event from the last World Junior Championships and will be looking to better her result in Helsinki this year.  

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