As finals exams season approaches, the UBC Synchro season has finally come to a close, with the End-Of-Year Watershow ending the season on a bang! Now, with the new executive elected (read our previous post), and already planning for next season, we can take some time to reflect on all of the accomplishments and milestones that UBC Synchro hit this year.
In the first semester, UBC Synchro put in hard work, not only in their training but also in their dedication to the club. On top of practicing three times a week, our athletes helped raise money for the club by working concerts at Thunderbird Arena, including artists such as Zedd and The Killers; they also, despite it being a horrible rainy day, were able to sell over 100 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts to help fundraise. The semester ended on a high with a record breaking crowd at the Winter Watershow, which left the club super motivated to keep up the hard work for the next semester.
January was a big month for UBC Synchro, while some like to ease back into things after the holidays, UBC went full throttle back into training, because the Canadian University Synchronized Swimming League (CUSSL) Championships were only a few weeks away and were set to be hosted at home! Before anyone knew it the day had arrived and flew by leaving us with some awesome memories and highlights. Having our Novice and Advanced team both take gold in their events and achieving “Best in the West” status made UBC history and was one of the many highlights from that competition!
Just a few weeks later, UBC Synchro was on a plane out east for the CUSSL National Championships which were held in St. Catharines, Ontario at Brock University this year. The competition lasted the whole weekend and resulted in some of UBC’s best placements in the club’s history, including a 4th place finish for the Advanced Team, a bronze medal for the Novice Team, and a gold medal for Olivia Zawadiuk and Katie Stirrat in Advanced Duet which helped them qualify for the Canadian Open later this year!
The season ended off 2 weeks later back at our home pool with the End-of-Year Watershow, showcasing all the routine that we had been working on all year. A huge thank you goes out to everyone who made this season possible: our coaches (Jordan Wuest, Jessie Cait, and Christina Demeris), the executive team (Olivia Zawadiuk, Jocelyn Dayal, Shannon Pflueger, Valerie Lang, and Jasmine Marsan-Johnson), as well as all the volunteers, photographers, UBC Aquatic Centre staff, and Thunderbirds Sport Clubs staff. This season truly could not have happened without everyone’s involvement and dedication to the club!
Even though we are in the off season, there are a couple of things you can look forward to from UBC Synchro:
March 14th : UBC TSC Spin-a-thon – as part of the TSC, we are working with all the clubs to help raise awareness and funds for Right to Play Canada. The event will run from 11:00am-3:00pm outside the UBC Bookstore.
April 4th : UBC TSC Awards – the annual UBC TSC Awards banquet, where UBC Synchro may take home some awards? (updates to come!)
April 28th: Synchronized Swimming Canadian Open – Our advanced duet, Olivia and Katie, will be competing in Windsor Ontario, make sure to cheer them on! Want to help and donate? Click this link!
July 16th-20th AND July 23rd-27th: UBC TSC Synchronized Swimming Camp – do you know a child 8-12 years old that may be interested in trying Synchro? For the first time ever, our athletes will be running a camp this summer! Check it out on the UBC Camps website and sign up ASAP!
Photo of the 2017-18 club after their End-of-Year Watershow (credit: Jon Hayduk Photography)