Deng and McGovern win junior duet title at Synchro Canada's 2014 Canadian Qualifier Championships

Montreal, March 14, 2014 – Wenjing Deng and Clare McGovern of Granite Synchro in Toronto won the junior duet gold medal on Friday at Synchro Canada’s 2014 Canadian Qualifier Championships.

Deng and McGovern (alternate: Madeline Walker-Byron) earned 76.8781 points with Erica Slavin and Kali Wong of the Calgary Aquabelles second at 76.5055 and Petra Regeni and Katherine Rhéaume of Montréal Synchro third at 74.5220.

“We had a good performance and we are proud of ourselves”, said Deng. “We wanted to have an unblemished performance showing our strength. We were very motivated and had a lot of energy for this routine. We gave all we had.”

McGovern says the result augurs well for the rest of the season.

“We now want to successfully defend our title at the Canadian Open and maybe be Canada’s duet entry at the 2014 FINA World Junior Championships”, she said.

In the junior team event, the Calgary Aquabelles lead after the preliminaries with 75.8369 points. Granite Synchro is second at 75.2693 and Montreal Synchro third at 73.8469.

“We are very proud”, said Abby Russell of the Aquabelles. “We wanted to show our team’s power, the height of our acrobatic jumps and precision in our execution.”

In the 13-15 team competition, Variety Village Synchro of Toronto is first after prelims at 69.4881. The Aquabelles are second at 69.4565 and Granite Synchro third at 69.1125.

It’s the first time Variety Village ranks first at a national championships.

“We modified our program after the provincial championships two weeks ago”, said Grace Klodt of Variety Village. “We know there is a lot of room for improvement and we are very positive for the final.”

In senior competition, B.C. Aquasonics took gold in the team free event while Virginie Lévesque and Genevieve Peel of Montreal Synchro were crowned the duet free champions.

Competition ends Saturday at the Claude Robillard Centre.

The Canadian Qualifier Championships are the opportunity for athletes of the junior and senior age group to earn a ticket to the Canadian Open Championships, which will be held April 30-May 4 in Saskatoon, SK. For the athletes of the 13-15 age group, they will look to qualify through the Canadian Espoir Championships, held June 4-8 in Kamloops, B.C.

The competition has attracted a Synchro Canada record 504 athletes.

Schedule and results for the 2014 Canadian Qualifier Championships are available on-line at www.synchro.ca.

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:

Patrick Godbout

Synchro Canada

Communications Manager