Synchro Canada announces its 2016 Junior National Team

Synchro Canada – Ottawa, March 22, 2016 —  Last week, during the 2016 Canadian Qualifier Championships in Québec City, Synchro Canada held the last phases of its selection trials for the 2016 Junior National Team, slated to compete at the FINA Junior World Championships in Kazan, Russia, on July 9-11.
 
As part of a 2-year selection process specially designed in preparation for the 2016 Junior World Championships, 25 athletes had previously been selected during the Centre of Excellence trials last November and attended a week-long training camp in early January.  These athletes were invited to take part in a number of selection events during the week, including two figure competitions as well as a half-day of pattern swim assessment that was held at the conclusion of the competition on Sunday.  Synchro Canada Domestic Technical Director, Jadine Cleary, led the team of coaches, judges and technical personnel who were on hand for the selection.

Synchro Canada is proud to announce that the 10 members of the 2016 Junior National Team are:
 
ARMSTRONG, Emily (Toronto, ON – Regional Training Centre – Ontario)
*CÔTÉ, Andrée-Anne (St-Georges, QC – Québec Excellence Synchro)
DICKINSON, Stefanie (Vancouver, BC – Vancouver Pacific Wave)
FIOLA-DION, Camille (Rimouski, QC – Québec Excellence Synchro)
HOPPER, Paige (Calgary, AB – Calgary Aquabelles)
JOLY, Audrey (St-Eustache, QC – Dollard Synchro)
McGUIRE, Gwendolyn (Sherwood Park, AB – Centre of Excellence)
ORMOND, Sion (Aurora, ON – Regional Training Centre – Ontario)
*PRATT, Halle (Calgary, AB – Calgary Aquabelles)
WINKELAAR, Cassandra (Calgary, AB – Calgary Aquabelles)
 
*Member of the last Junior World Championships team in 2014

The team will start training at Synchro Canada’s Centre of Excellence in Montreal at the beginning of May to prepare for the Junior World Championships under the leadership of Head Coach Meng Chen, Associate Head Coach Jennifer Tregale and assistant coaches Kasia Kulesza and Manny Wu.

“I am very pleased with the composition of our 2016 Junior Worlds Team,” stated Associate Head Coach Jenn Tregale.  “This group of excellent athletes is quite possibly the best team we have put together in many years.  All the girls have impressive technical skills and swim with an amazing passion for this sport.  Our entire staff agrees that we have a fantastic team and we are looking forward to working with them and helping them achieve great results at Worlds in July.”

Cleary, who is responsible for the Junior development program nationally, was especially pleased with the cross-country collaboration that led to the selection of the team.  “Immediately after the 2014 Junior Worlds, we started developing a 2-year plan that was designed to help us field an even more competitive team for 2016.  In addition to a more extensive selection process that allowed us to pick our team members with more confidence, we were extremely pleased with the community’s response: 3 clubs decided to use the Junior Worlds Phoenix program as their club routine, with many others opting to use certain parts of the choreography. The result is that we are now much farther ahead in the preparation of our athletes for this year’s Junior World Championships, and we are very thankful for the commitment and collaboration from both coaches and athletes that have made this possible.”