Taking to the pool for the last time at the World Aquatics Championships, Audrey Lamothe saved her best for last and delivered a stunning performance in the solo free event this morning in Fukuoka to finish just within reach of the podium, in 4th position.
“I’m very satisfied with my performance”, stated Lamothe, who was awarded a score of 207.4480 for her performance. “My goal for today was to execute a routine without any deductions, so I could maintain the full degree of difficulty I had planned for this routine, so of course I’m very pleased that I was able to achieve this.”
Although placement was not top of mind as she dove into the pool at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall, the swimmer from Montreal, QC, felt her efforts were rewarded today.
“The 4th place represents all the hard work I have put in over the past years. I didn’t perform today just for the placement; I wanted to have a good performance that I could control. The result was secondary for me since it’s not something I can fully control. But I am extremely proud to be in 4th position at the World Championships!”
The result was the best Canadian result in solo at a World Championships since Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon’s 4th place in 2011 in Shanghai. Earlier in the week, Lamothe had reached a 6th position in the solo technical event, another improvement from her result at Worlds in Budapest a year ago.
“We’re super proud of Audrey, she was fighting hard for medal in finals and ended in a very impressive fourth place. We’re excited for her as she heads to the Pan Am Aquatics Championships to represent Canada as the junior soloist,” added CAS Chief Sport Officer Kerri Morgan.
“I will take a few days of rest, and then I will resume training,” concluded Lamothe, referring to her preparation for the Pan Am event held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on August 10-13. “It’s a pleasure for me to be able to still compete in 2 age groups: here at Worlds I competed in the senior category, but I am still eligible for the Junior category, so I will also be able to defend my two solos at the Junior level.”
Successes and learnings for Team Canada
Today’s event concluded a week that saw Team Canada reaching their goals in some events while falling short in others.
In the Acrobatic Routine event, Canada held its position from the preliminary round to finish 6th in the world, moving up one spot from their 2022 result.
In the Team Technical program, Team Canada finished 14th, narrowly missing the finals. In Duet Technical, the new pair of Scarlett Finn and Kenzie Priddell finished in 18th position.
“We’re very proud of our strong sixth-place finish in the acrobatic routine,” concluded Morgan. “Now we know what’s ahead of us and what we have to work on as we enter the last stretch before Pan Am Games in November. We’ve already made changes to team and we can’t wait for the next steps. We’re ready to fight hard!”