Being ranked fifth in the country at the start of the Canadian championships mixed like oil and water with the Gloucester Synchronized Swim Club's varied event team. The group of eight 15-19-year-olds ended the May 2-8 competition in Etobicoke with extra ballast in the form of gold medals after their first plunge into the national level. "We've brought teams (at different skill levels) to the nationals for the last three years," said Gloucester coach Tara Hawkins. "For this team, it was the first time at the nationals for all of them. It's a good building experience for the team." Gold medals collected at the end of the weekend were also the first the east-end club has earned at the national level in three years. The varied event team was ranked third in Eastern Canada after the March 25-28 Eastern Canadian Divisionals Synchronized Swimming Championships in Montreal. When the western results were factored in, Gloucester's scores put them fifth in the country going into the national-level competition. Coaches were just hoping for a place at the podium, Hawkins said. Gloucester came home with the gold medal with a score of 77 for their technical routine, a full point better than Beaconsfield Synchro from Quebec. But while they won the gold medal, judges ranked an exhibition team from Switzerland one-third of a point higher in the overall totals. Team members Chelsea Cote, Chelsey Densmore, Chandra Costello, Jessica Graham, Courtney Luce, Heather Potter, Amy Morrow, Janine Ryan and Angela Beanlands already swim with other club teams and put in extra time learning the routines for the mixed-age category. A-level teams with other clubs average anywhere from 20-40 hours a week in the pool perfecting their moves. Gloucester swimmers got seven or eight hours a week, said Hawkins. The first half of the season was spent on strength, conditioning and learning the routines. Competitions don't start until the second half of the year. One of the benefits of winning the Juvenile Girls Division 1 title was a chance to swim in the water show finale at the end of the meet. Canada's Olympic team also put on a demonstration at the event.
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