Deng & Harding win junior duet title at Synchro Canada's 2015 Canadian Qualifier Championships

Calgary Aquabelles take the lead in 13-15 and Junior Team preliminaries

Victoria, March 27, 2015 — Wenjing Deng and Dylan Harding of Aretaic Synchronized Swimming Alliance in Toronto won the junior duet gold medal on Friday at Synchro Canada’s 2015 Canadian Qualifier Championships.

Deng and Harding earned 76.3347 points to win the event. Sisters Ioana and Maria Gheta of Synchro Laval came in second at 75.1218 while Andrée-Anne Côté and Camille Fiola-Dion of SynchroElite in Quebec City were third at 74.6774.

Deng, who was national champion in duet last year with a different partner, feels really comfortable with this year’s pairing: “We both really like our music and our choreography this year. We have fun when we train and when we perform, and we feel this allows us to swim with energy and bring the audience in”.

“We feel really connected when we swim and we’re able to play off each other’s strengths”, added her partner Harding.

In the junior team event, the Calgary Aquabelles are in the lead after preliminaries with 76.1159 points. Aretaic Synchronized Swimming Alliance is second at 74.8880 and SynchroElite third at 74.3470.

In the 13-15 team competition, the Aquabelles hold a slim 0.19 point lead over the Toronto’s Aretaic Alliance after prelims (72.2876 to 72.0998). Montreal Synchro is third at 70.2358.

In senior competition, Dollard Synchro took gold in the Team Free event with 74.5000 points, ahead of Quebec City’s SynchroElite (72.7333) and Team Saskatchewan (70.5667).

In the Duet Free event, Dollard Synchro’s Cossette Leblanc and Kali Wong won their second gold medal of the competition after last night’s win in the technical event. Virginie Lévesque and Geneviève Peel from Montreal Synchro won silver while Katrina Hohensee and Sarah Jones, from the local club of Victoria Synchro, took bronze.

The Canadian Qualifier Championships are the opportunity for athletes of the junior and senior age group to earn a ticket to the Shiseido Canadian Open Championships, which will be held April 28-May 2 in Toronto, ON. The athletes of the 13-15 age group will look to qualify for the Canadian Espoir Championships, held June 3-7 in Saint John, NB.

Over 430 athletes are taking part in the competition, which continues through to Saturday at Saanich Commonwealth Place.

Schedule for Saturday, March 28

8:00am – 11:30pm	13-15 – Duets Finals
12:30pm – 3:30pm	JUNIOR – Solo Finals
4:00pm – 6:00pm	SENIOR – Solo Free Finals
6:30pm – 7:30pm	13-15 – Team Finals
8:00pm – 9:00pm	JUNIOR – Team Finals

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