Synchro Canada announces its 2016 Junior National Team Coaching Staff

Ottawa, December 23, 2015 — Synchro Canada is pleased to announce its 2016 Junior National Team Coaching staff as it heads into the next phase of its junior High Performance development program – the holiday camp – being held in Toronto at the TPASC pool from December 28 to January 6.

Jenn Tregale, from Calgary, has been named Associate Head Coach of this year’s National Team which will represent Canada at the biennal FINA World Junior World Championships. She will be leading the group on site in Toronto as 25 junior athletes will be attending a training camp that is a new addition to Canada’s development strategy.

Head Coach of the Calgary Aquabelles since 2004, Jenn was the Head Coach of Synchro Canada’s 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015 Junior National Teams. Last year, under her leadership at the UANA Pan American Synchronized Swimming Championships, Team Canada won gold in the team, duet and solo events. She also led Canada to a bronze medal in the solo event and a 5th place in the combo event at the 2012 FINA World Junior Championships while placing 6th at the 2014 Junior Worlds in Helsinki, Finland.

“I am truly honoured to have been selected as the Associate Head Coach of the 2016 Junior Worlds Team for Synchro Canada”, stated Tregale. “I am very much looking forward to working with some amazing athletes and coaches and improve upon our results from the 2014 World Championships. The expectations are high but I know our team will be extremely strong and will work hard to achieve the goal of making our way back up towards the podium.”

As part of a total national high performance program alignment strategy, Jenn will work closely with National Team Head Coach Meng Chen to execute a training program geared to dovetail closely with that of the Senior National team, who is training full time at Synchro Canada’s Centre of Excellence in the INS institute in Montreal.

Kasia Kulesza, from Laval, QC, has been selected as an assistant coach and will be assisting Jenn at the Junior holiday camp in Toronto.

A competitive synchronized swimmer from 1986 to 1998, Kasia represented Canada at the 1996 Olympic Games where she won a silver medal in the team event. At the 1993 FINA World Junior Championships, she won a gold medal in the team event and a silver medal in solo, duet and figures. First coaching at Montréal Synchro club, she started with the Senior National Team in 2005 where she was an assistant coach at many international competitions for the Senior National A and B team. Kasia was an assistant coach with the 2015 Junior National Team and is currently High Performance Director at Quebec Excellence Synchro in Quebec City.

As part of a new coach development and mentoring initiative, Synchro Canada will bring other Assistant Coaches into the Junior program at different points – to allow for more coaches to experience first hand the daily training environment at the elite junior level and to expose our junior HP athlete pool to a breadth of coaching talent from across the country.

Regional Training Centre – ON coaches Manny Wu and Jennifer Koptie will be on hand in Toronto to provide their assistance and expertise to the group of 25 talented junior athletes participating.

Other assistant coaches involved in this unique project will be announced later.

About Synchro Canada

Synchro Canada is an organization that fosters the pursuit of excellence while developing athletes, citizens, and ambassadors of the sport of synchronized swimming at all levels. From its 1924 beginnings in Montréal, synchronized swimming has been actively pursued by more than 70 countries worldwide. Canada proudly ranks among the best of these nations.

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 Suncare: Shiseido Canada

Official Suppliers: 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.

– 30 –

For information:

Stéphane Côté

Synchro Canada

Communications Coordinator