Canada took home the gold medal in the team event followed by the Santa Clara Aquamaids and the Riverside AQuettes. In the solo, Santa Clara’s Heidi McMahon claimed the title while Malaysia’s Shareen Png grabbed the silver medal. Jessie Drabinsky and Missy Knight, both of host team Hawaii Synchro Club, grabbed the third and fourth place positions. In the duet, Santa Clara’s Bianca and Sonja Van Der Velden took home the crown, while New Canaan’s Rachele and Esme Louiws claimed second place.
The elite international competition attracted more than 200 of the nation’s top synchronized swimmers as well as swimmers from Canada, PR of China and Malaysia. The 2007 U.S. Junior National Team was also thrown into the mix of top competition in the Junior Division. The Junior National Team was selected in May and conducted training at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Members of the Junior National Team include Madison Crocker (Weston, Conn.), Katherine Green (Indianapolis, Ind.), Maria Koroleva (Walnut Creek, Calif.), Anna Nelson (Stillwater, Minn.), Javeneh Nikbakht (San Jose, Calif.), Nadia Rais (San Jose, Calif.), Corinne Smith (Ridgefield, Conn.), Kenyon Smith (Boulder, Colo.) and Kimiko Urata (Juneau, Alaska).
About United States Synchronized Swimming: United States Synchronized Swimming (USSS) serves as the National Governing Body for the sport of synchronized swimming. USSS is a membership-based and non-for-profit organization which services the sport from the grass roots level to the National Team. The mission statement of USSS is "to provide leadership and resources for the promotion and growth of synchronized swimming, to achieve competitive excellence at all levels and to develop broad based participation." For more information, visit USA Synchronized Swimming on-line.
