Nationals take flight
Rosie MacLennan and Rachel Tam are nicely in synch. Kicking off the opening day of the Canadian Championships - Trampoline Gymnastics Thursday night at the Enmax Centre, the trampoline gymnasts and members of the Skyriders Trampoline Place in Richmond Hill, Ont. teamed up to take top spot in the Women’s Senior Synchro preliminaries event.
As the duo heads into the weekend with nationals running until Sunday, starting off with the synchro competition was a fine way to get into the groove as MacLennan and Tam — competing together for the first time — posted a combined score of 88.355 to take first place into Sunday’s final, ahead of runners-up Sarah Milette and Sophiane Methot, who scored 80.170 Thursday.
“Synchro is always a great way to start, you get a feel for the gym and you get a feel for the trampoline and the lighting,” said MacLennan, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in 2012 and 2016 as well as the 2013 World Trampoline champion and 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games champ. “But it’s also nice because you have a teammate out there with you and that makes it more fun.”
However, MacLennan noted there’s a bit more to pay attention to in the team event than competing solo.
“You always have to make sure you’re at the same height and doing the same skills as your partner. So sometimes it’s a different routine than what you would typically do and also you have to use your peripheral vision to keep an eye on your partner.”
“Every person that you do synchro with is different,” added Tam. “Everyone has a slightly different way they jump, they jump different heights. You just want to be at the same height as your partner. But every person is a little bit different, some people jump higher and some jump lower so you have to make sure you’re really watching for that.”
Having set themselves up nicely for the Women’s Senior Synchro finals, which will take place Sunday, MacLennan said the duo put together a slightly easier routine due to being the first time they’ve competed together.
“We’re really lucky we’ve been training together for so long. I know how she jumps, she knows how I jump, so you could always predict what the other person is going to do, which makes it easier. But it all comes with experience.
“Rachel and I have both been training pretty hard. This is our second team trial for the national team and it counts toward our world team selection. So we’ve been training hard back at Skyriders, doing some routines and trying to build up and make sure that we’re ready for this weekend.”
This weekend’s event is part of the selection process for the 2018 World Championships, the 2018 World Age Group Competitions and the 2018 Senior Pan Am American Championship.
With the first day’s action wrapping up, the decorated Olympian was welcomed to southern Alberta, stopping for a photo with some fans shortly after their second routine.
“I’m really excited to be in Lethbridge,” said MacLennan. “All the volunteers at this competition have been amazing so far and really helping set it off without a hitch and welcoming us here. I think it’ll be a good week.”
In the Synchro Men’s L5 Novice preliminaries, the team of Charles Frigon and Justin Fefaivre topped the field.
In the Synchro Women’s L5 Novice preliminaries, Julie Anderson and Eleni Papakyriakopoulos placed first with a score of 43.900.
In the DMT Women’s L5 Novice 17+ preliminaries, McKayla Dalgetty was first with a score of 62.700, while in the DMT Women’s L6 Espoir 18+ preliminaries Kiana MacKay topped the field at 126.
The DMT Men’s L6 Espoir 18+ preliminary was topped by Tyler Champagne with a score of 134.
Preliminary action continues today, starting at 8:45 a.m. with the Women’s L5 Novice 16U Trampoline event.
For scheduling and results during the weekend, visit
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