Clare McGovern wins second national crown in Junior Solo at 2014 Canadian Open Championships

Saskatoon, May 2, 2014 – In the junior solo final event yesterday at the 2014 Canadian Open Championships, Clare McGovern of Granite Synchro in Toronto won her second national title in a row with 79.8007 points. Her confidence level going into the event was high: “in the past few practices, I’ve had lots of energy and fixed lots of the little details to perfect my solo. I have trained the whole year for the brief four minutes that I get to show the judges all my hard work, and because of that hard work, I know that I am ready to perform at my best. It’s always at the Canadian Championships that I have my best performances.”

Kali Wong of the Calgary Aquabelles was second at 78.4929. “All I was thinking about entering my performance was that it was my last time swimming this routine”, she says. “I wanted to end my junior career with a bang!”

Claire Caskey of Granite Synchro was third at 77.0900.

Thomas and Simoneau win international Technical Duet event

National team members Karine Thomas and Jacqueline Simoneau took the gold medal in the international ranking of the senior technical duet event, ahead of Spain and Kazakhstan. “I feel like our technical elements are improving every time we compete”, mentions Thomas. “We were able to fully enjoy our performance swimming in front of our home crowd.”

In the national ranking of the senior technical duet event, Genevieve Peel and Virginie Lévesque of Montreal Synchro won the gold medal with 74.8228 points followed by Josee Thomas and Allie Murchison of Frederiction Synchro (65.5192), and Jennifer Coussa and Mollie Crevier-Morin of Dollard Synchro (65.4539).

Junior Duet preliminaries

In the junior duet preliminaries, Clare McGovern and Wenjing Deng, the defending national champions from Granite Synchro, posted the top score ahead of Kali Wong and Erica Slavin of the Calgary Aquabelles. The finals, featuring the top ten pairs from the preliminary round, will take place Saturday.

Combo preliminaries

In the team combo preliminaries, the Calgary Aquabelles took the lead with 82.2667 points. Granite Synchro was second (80.0000) and Montreal Synchro, third (78.3333). The finals will take place Friday at 2pm.

Opening Ceremonies

The opening ceremonies took place yesterday, as local talent Kyla Bettin from the host club Saskatoon Aqualenes sang the national anthem.

Competition continues through to Sunday.

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