Courageous Canadians eighth in free duet at FINA World Championships

Courageous Canadians eighth in free duet at FINA World Championships

BARCELONA – Emilia Kopcik of Surrey, B.C., and Stephanie Leclair of Gatineau, Que., completed a gutsy performanceon Thursday placing eighth in the free duet final in synchronized swimming at the FINA World Aquatic Championships.

Svetlana Kolesnichenko and Svetlana Romashina of Russia won the gold medal with 97.680 points, Tingting Jiang and Wenwen Jiang of China were second at 95.350 and Ona Carbonell and Margalida Crespi Jaume of Spain third at 94.990.

Russia has won all five synchro gold medals so far.

Kopcik broke her foot earlier this week just days after straining her abdominal muscles while Leclair continues to battle a chronic hip injury.  Still the pair, who have been together for only a month, soldiered on against a strong field and finished at 87.370.

‘’Yes we are disappointed with the result,’’ said Leclair.  ‘’But we felt our performance was better than the prelims even though that wasn’t reflective in the results.  We improved our synchronization and had a better connection with the judges.’’

Kopcik didn’t hold back.

‘’I didn’t want anything to take away from the performance,’’ said Kopcik, who also competes in the team events.  ‘’We’ve both competed with injuries before and in the water you are so preoccupied with your routine that you don’t feel anything.  We wanted to compete because we worked so hard to get here and we had the full support of the coaches.’’

Competition continues Friday with the team free final.  Canada is standing fifth after Tuesday’s prelims.

About Synchro Canada
Synchro Canada is the national organization governing synchronized swimming in Canada. It represents 10 provincial associations, a territorial association, as well as some 150 clubs and 12,000 members across Canada. A member of FINA, the world’s governing aquatic sports organization, Synchro Canada promotes the quest for excellence by developing the athletes, citizens and ambassadors of the sport of synchronized swimming at every level. Synchro Canada would like to thank its sponsors: 

Program partners: Sport Canada, Own The Podium, the Centre national multisport-Montréal
Official suppliers: Speedo, Knox Gelatine, AdUp, National Car Rental
Official make up: MAKE UP FOR EVER
Official hotel: Hilton Hotels Canada
Official Charity Partner: Plan Canada’s Because I am A Girl Program

For further information, visit Synchro Canada’s Website at www.synchro.ca or follow Synchro Canada on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

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For information:
Patrick Godbout
Synchro Canada 
Communications Manager
Email: [email protected]

Cell.: (514) 213-9897
Website : www.synchro.ca 
Facebook: Synchro Canada