Synchro team set for Olympic stage
OTTAWA – Synchro Canada announced today its nine national team athletes named to the Canadian Olympic team for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
‘’The athletes selected are the most experienced and have helped Canada returned to the world’s elite since the 2008 Olympics. This is the best team we can possibly have in order to attain that difficult goal of stepping on the Olympic podium in 2012,’’ said Coach Julie Sauvé.
‘’The members of this team have represented Canada in the Olympic events (duet and team events) the past few years. Together, they qualified Canada in the duet and team events at the 2012 Olympic Games during the 2011 Pan American Games. They work together for many years to build routines, manage the pressures of competition and give their everything by training more than 45 hours a week for the past year in order to attain their Olympic dream and proudly represent their country.’’
“The endurance, strength and precision required to be a synchronized swimmer at the Olympic level simply can’t be overemphasized, never mind the fact that they need to do it all with smiles on their faces,” said Mark Tewksbury, Chef de Mission for the Canadian Olympic Team at London 2012. “They’re going to do themselves and their country very proud in London this summer!”
“The combined dedication, creativity and intensity of these young women is positively inspirational,” said Sylvie Bernier, Assistant Chef de Mission for the Canadian Olympic Team at London 2012. “I know they will bring something very special and very Canadian to London.”
“Congratulations to all our wonderful synchronized swimmers for their nomination to the Canadian Olympic Team,” said Marcel Aubut, President of the Canadian Olympic Committee. “We wish them all the best on their final road before the Games, and look forward to applauding their grace and skill in London this summer.”
The nine named athletes with the events they’ll compete in are:
BOUDREAU-GAGNON, Marie-Pier (Rivière-du-Loup, QC)
Events: duet and team
DUROCHER, Stéphanie (Repentigny, QC)|
Events: team
FORTIN, Jo-Annie (Montréal, arrondissement Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, QC)
Events: team
ISAAC, Chloé (Brossard, QC)
Events: team
LECLAIR, Stéphanie (Gatineau, QC)
Events: team
LITTLE, Tracy (Pointe-Claire, QC)
Events: team
MARCOTTE, Élise (L’Ancienne-Lorette, QC)
Events: duet and team
THOMAS, Karine (Gatineau, QC)
Events: team
WELSH, Valérie (Saint-Nicolas, QC)
Events: team
Julie Sauvé, Meng Chen and Anastassia Goutseva are the Canadian team coaches.
Duet
Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon and Élise Marcotte will launch the competition with their technical duet routine called ‘’Zipper’’ on Sunday August 5 at 3 p.m. (London time). They will swim their preliminary free program, entitled ‘’Jester’’ on August 6 at 3 p.m.
The top 12 pairs from the preliminary routines will advance to the final on Tuesday August 7 at 3 p.m. The finalists will once again swim their free routine. The final ranking will be based on points accumulated over the three routines or two routines for those countries that didn’t make the final.
Team
In the team competition, the technical routine is scheduled for August 9 and the free program on August 10. The eight countries in the team event – Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, Spain, Britain, Japan and Russia- will present two routines. Technical team is on August 9 and free team, on August 10. The accumulated score from those two routines will determine the final ranking.
Canada will present two new team routines: ‘’Soccer’’ for the technical and ‘’The Circus’’ for the free.
