MAJOR POOL PRODUCTION
Synchro swimmers coming to city
When Erika Lindner and Leanne McDonnell were asked by Synchro Canada to tackle hosting the 2018 national championships, they had one stipulation.
“We told them we would but only in Windsor,” Lindner wrote in an email.
Lindner and McDonnell are the linchpins of the Waterloo Regional Synchro Club.
Windsor will become a second home as they host what is now called the Canadian Artistic Swimming Championships at the Windsor International Aquatic and Training Centre April 24-28. The event that starts Tuesday will bring in 250 athletes from eight provinces, 50 coaches and 40 officials. Insisting on hosting a national-calibre event in another city many kilometres from home seems like logistical suicide. “We’ve run so many meets in the past and nothing is easier than running it in Windsor,” McDonnell said. “It’s a wonderful setup. I would host a meet in Windsor anytime.” The Windsor aquatic and training centre had just barely opened when Lindner and McDonnell organized and hosted the 2014 Ontario Open Synchronized Swim Championships there.
“We had a club in Ottawa saying ‘It’s too far, it’s too far,’ and then after the meet they said, ‘Anytime, it was worth the drive,’ ” McDonnell said.
Windsor hasn’t had its own synchronized swim club since the mid1990s.
McDonnell’s sister-in-law Rosemary Clinton and her husband John live in Tecumseh where their home becomes an organizational ground zero for paperwork and bottled water. John Clinton has volunteered to chauffeur officials from either the airport or train station to their respective hotels. Windsor’s sports tourism officer Sam Magalas said Synchro Canada has been eager to host an event here for several years. A state-of-the art facility combined with strong support from the city and the local tourism bureau, along with hotel accommodations within walking distance, make Windsor a prime target for swimming events.
“We’re always on the lookout for new places to hold events,” said Stephane Cote of Synchro Canada. “Our field of play is over 25 metres and we need a certain depth as well. There are only so many facilities in the country that have 25 metres of deep water.” FINA, the international governing body for swimming, requires that a pool be three metres deep to host a sanctioned artistic event. The Windsor aquatic and training centre exceeds that depth near the dive tower and is more than adequate at 2.4 metres at the other end.
“We could totally have a FINA event there,” Cote said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how things go there next week.”
The hope is hosting such a marquee event will spur interest in resurrecting a local synchro club. “We know exposure to live sport does help drum up interest,” Magalas said, pointing to the establishment of a local dive team after hosting several high-profile FINA diving events.
FINA officially changed the discipline’s name to artistic swimming from synchronized swimming last summer.
The competition will crown champions at the junior level (1618 years) and the senior age groups in over 18 events.
The 10 members of Canada’s senior national team will compete for their respective home clubs from Dollard-Des Ormeaux, Que., The Regional Training Centre Toronto, the Calgary Aquabelles and the Quebec City Excellence. The national team members, led by Pan Am gold medallist Jacqueline Simoneau, will hit the pool together for a special team demonstration Wednesday at 7 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door. Prices range from a $5 adult daily pass on Tuesday to $15 for an adult daily pass Wednesday through Saturday. An all-event package is $40 for adults. Ticket prices for children six to 15 years, range from $2 for the Tuesday daily pass to $12 for the daily pass Wednesday through Saturday to $30 for an all-event package. A full schedule of events is available at synchro.ca/casc2018.
We’ve run so many meets in the past and nothing is easier than running it in Windsor.