"We have a fresh new team," said Co-captain Meghan Kinney, of the youthful team. "This was our debut, so we had nothing to lose. We didn't hold back."
The United States hopes to find its way back to the medal stand but will have to compete with Russia who posted a 98.o00, to take the top spot entering finals. Spain followed close behind with a 97.500 while China grabbed the third place position with a 96.167. Canada (95.500), Japan (95.000) and host country Italy (94.333), took the next spots.
The US roster contains one returning 2008 Olympian (Jillian Penner) and three members from the 2007 U.S. World Championship Team (Kinney, Penner and Layla Smith) that took home a bronze medal in Melbourne, Australia. Kinney, who was an alternate to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team serves as the Team Captain along with Smith.
The 2009 U.S. National Synchronized Swimming Team consists of: Debbie Chen (Cerritos, Calif.); Mary Killman (McKinney, Texas); Meghan Kinney (Mission Viejo, Calif.); Maria Koroleva, (Concord, Calif.); Olivia Morgan, (Lafayette, Calif.); Jillian Penner (Seattle, Wash.); Leah Pinette (Bristol, Conn.); Hannah Shively (Westerville, Ohio.); Layla Smith (Boulder, Colo.); Michelle Theriault (North Hills, Calif.); Lyssa Wallace (San Antonio, Texas.) and Alison Williams (Canoga Park, Calif.)
The 2009 FINA World Championship Synchronized Swimming Schedule:
- Saturday, July 18: Team Tech Preliminaries
- Sunday, July 19: Team Tech FINAL, Solo Tech Preliminaries
- Monday, July 20: Solo Tech FINAL, Duet Tech Preliminaries
- Tuesday, July 21: Duet Tech FINAL, Free Combination Preliminaries
- Wednesday, July 22: Free Combination FINAL, Solo Free Preliminaries
- Thursday, July 23: Solo Free FINAL, Duet Free Preliminaries
- Friday, July 24: Duet Free FINAL, Team Free Preliminaries
- Saturday, July 25: Team Free FINAL
Synchronized Swimming World Championships: 18-25 July
- Schedule: Synchronized Swimming 2009 World Championships
- Team Roster: USA Synchronized Swimming 2009 World Championships
- Results: Synchronized Swimming 2009 World Championships
- About Swimming: Synchronized Swimming World Championships Central
- Results from Omega Timing
- Swimming World Championships Central
- 2009 Swimming World Championships On-line Video and TV Schedule