The Ontario
synchronized swimming championships were held last weekend
with 14-year-old Jennifer Knobbs earning the total aggregate
award (top athlete) for 15 to 18 year old competitors.
The Oakville resident won first place gold in both solo and
duet (with partner Amy Levine of Mississauga and back-up
Taylor Durand of Toronto).
She also earned second place in team and third place in
figures, the latter behind her duet partner Levine, a Grade 11
student, and champion Morgan Clarke, a Grade 12 student. The
scores were very close between the three of them.
Knobbs is a Grade 9 student at Silverthorne Collegiate in
Etobicoke where she is part of their high performance program.
Her training includes at least 20 hours of work each week
in the pool, combined with dry land strength training and
dance lessons.
Knobbs is following up a stellar year in which she also won
the total aggregate award in the U-15 category at the
nationals, finishing first in her division in the solo and
figures. She also picked up a bronze medal in the duet
competition and was part of a group that placed second in the
team competition.
Knobbs raised some eyebrows last October when she was the
youngest competitor to try out for the Canadian national
junior team and finished 12 out of 48 competitors.
A member of the Olympium Synchronized Swimming Club in
Etobicoke, her immediate goal is to make the Canadian junior
team and her ultimate goal is to compete in the 2008 Beijing
Olympics.
