The UBC TSC Synchronized Swimming team recently came back from a weekend full of successes in Ottawa ON. On Friday, the 15th, 14 athletes and 2 coaches from the UBC TSC Synchro Sport Club made their way east to compete at the Canadian University Artistic Swimming League (CUASL) National Championships.
Once safely arriving in Ottawa, the athletes made their way to the Carleton University Raven’s Nest to check out the competition pool. After a quick look around the facility, all the athletes had a chance to hop in for a quick practice and swim their routines to music to get a feel for the pool. Having this extra practice before competition is essential because it helps orient athletes to the new space.
The next day marked the first day of real competition. The competition commenced with Novice Duet finals, and UBC’s novice duet of Valie Madjeska and Natalie Hays gave it their all. The girls swam proud and finished in the bronze medal position.
Immediately following Novice Duet, was Advanced Duet Preliminaries. Due to the amount of entries in the category, CUASL deemed it necessary for there to be both prelims where they would narrow down the number of competitors and then finals the next day. UBC had two entries in this category. Natasha Thom and Shannon Pflueger swam first for UBC and placed 14th! Following their swim Olivia Zawadiuk and Katie Stirrat swim into a 3rd place finish which qualified them to advance to the finals swim the next day.
Natasha and Shannon after their Nationals swim
Later that day was Novice Solo preliminaries. Timothy Yaroshuk and Natalie Hays both competed for UBC in this category. Tim swam first and his strong performance earned him a 2nd place finish. Natalie also qualified for finals the next day as she swam into 9th.
The last event of the day was Advanced Team Prelims. The UBC Synchro Advanced Team pulled out their best swim of the season and swam their way into a 3rd place position going into the finals event the next day.
UBC’s Advanced Team’s first highlight
Day 2 of Nationals started early in the morning with both teams up and getting ready to compete along with some extra routines. Novice Solo kicked off the day and Tim and Natalie both had another amazing swim each. Tim captured a bronze medal for his solo and Natalie placed 8th, moving up a spot from her prelims swim.
The next event of the day was Advanced Duet Finals. Olivia and Katie delivered a best ever performance of the season which moved them up one placement from prelims and procured them the silver medal in the category. Not only did this duet podium, they also qualified to compete at the Canadian Championships which are set to be held in Kamloops this May.
Katie and Olivia after their finals swim
Novice Team Finals was next, and although small UBC’s 4-person novice team swam their hearts out right into a podium finish in the category. This was the second year in a row that the UBC Novice team has taken the bronze in this event!
The Novice Team with their bronze medals
The last event of the day was Advanced Team Finals. After months of preparation, UBC’s Advanced Team was ready to give it their all and achieve their season goal of making it on the podium at Nationals (the team previously placed 4th last year). After an amazing swim UBC was awarded the bronze which is a best ever finish for a UBC Synchro Advanced team. Along with the bronze medal, the entire team will join their teammates Olivia and Katie and be competing at the Canadian Championships in May.
The Advanced Team after their finals swim
Are you interested in watching these amazing routines before the season ends? UBC Synchro’s End-of-Season Watershow is Sunday March 3rd at the UBC Aquatic Centre from 5:45-6:30pm in the north end of the competition pool. Entry is by donation! All information about the event can be found here!