Canada caps artistic swimming World Cup Super Final with silver medal in acrobatic routine
Canadian team finishes behind Ukraine for 4th medal of competition in Oviedo, Spain
Canada added a fourth medal to its haul at the artistic swimming World Cup Super Final, claiming silver in the acrobatic routine to close out the competition on Sunday in Oviedo, Spain.
The Canadians earned a score of 197.1600 while finishing behind Ukraine (216.6701). Israel finished just behind Canada for bronze with 191.6033 points.
Canada's team consisted of Laurianne Imbeau, Jonnie Newman, Raphaelle Plante, Kenzie Priddell, Kiara Quieti, Claire Scheffel, Florence Tremblay and Olena Verbinska, along with alternates Sydney Carroll, Audrey Lamothe and Mya Fortin.
The team entered the field of seven with the third-highest declared degree of difficulty and held its ground with a gutsy performance that received its full difficulty value of 19.10.
The next event for the senior national team will be the World Aquatics Championships, running from July 14-30 in Fukuoka, Japan, followed by the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile (Oct. 20-Nov. 5). Canada can secure a quota spot for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the Pan Am Games.
"I'm proud of how this young group of athletes has responded under pressure this week," Canada head coach Gábor Szauder said in a release. "They've spent the past months learning how to train, and now they're learning how to compete. The World Championships in Fukuoka next month will be another opportunity to gain precious competition experience as we continue to build this team to be at its best for the Pan Am Games in the fall."
The newly formed Canadian duo of Newman and Priddell finished seventh in the women's duet free on Sunday morning with 158.3020 points, matching their finish in Saturday's duet technical event. It was just their second time performing their free routine.
"I'm so proud of how Jonnie and Kenzie pulled it together today," said duet coach Claudia Holzner, who represented Canada at the Tokyo Olympics. "They've had an extremely busy competition – swimming five programs in three days – and they've only been working on this routine for a few months. What they've been able to accomplish in this short period of time is a great sign for things to come."
Holzner's own Olympic duet free routine — re-choreographed to be optimized within the new scoring system — is being used by the pair.
