Canada's synchronized swimmers win silver in team combo at Spain Open

MADRID Canada won the silver medal on Saturday in the team combo event at the 2012 Spain Open synchronized swimming competition.

Spain, which is fielding its Olympic squad at this competition, took the gold with 96.390 points, the Canadians were second at 93.220 and a Spanish Club team Real Canoe was third at 81.430.

Swimming for Canada were Janelle Ball (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC), Camille Bowness (Montral, QC), Annabelle Frappier (Mont-Saint-Hilaire, QC), Sandy Gill (Coquitlam, B.C.), Emilia Kopcik (Surrey, B.C.), Rachel Kowalski (Kitchener, ON), Katie MacLeod (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC), Rebecca Maule (Guelph, ON), Lisa Mikelberg (Montral, QC), and Marie-Lou Morin (Montral, QC).

The Canadians performed to a medley of music by Queen.

Its a real crowd pleaser and we nailed every single one of our moves today, said Kopcik, the team combo captain. Its a very high intensity number that requires a lot of power and a lot of endurance with the amount of time we spend underwater. Theres not another routine like it in the world.

In the team competition, Canada remained second after the Fridays technical program and Saturdays free team preliminary event. Spain leads with 191.759 points followed by the Canadians at 180.1325 and Brazil at 168.2430.

The Canadian swimmers were Bowness, Frappier, Gill, Kopcik, Maule, Mikelberg, Morin and Marie Rondeau (Qubec, QC). They performed a western-themed routine.

It was super, said Morin, the team captain. We started strong and impressed the judges with our acrobatic moves. The big challenge is not showing the energy we our dispensing during the performance. We hope we can clean up some of the little errors we made today for the final.

Competition ends Sunday with the team final.

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 worlds 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, B2ten, the Centre national multisport-Montral
Official suppliers: Speedo, Knox Gelatine, AdUp, MKI Travel, National Car Rental
Official make up: MAKE UP FOR EVER
Official hotel: Hilton Hotels Canada
Official Charity Partner: Plan Canadas Because I am A Girl Program

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

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