"In my first year, my first competition, I came last," Rampling said last week as she was preparing for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. "I got this little participation medal and it was so exciting."

Saturday, the Burlington swimmer got the thrill of having a medal placed around her neck again, but this time it was for finishing first. Rampling and partner Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon continued Canada's dominance of synchronized swimming at the Commonwealth Games by winning the gold in the duet. "It's an amazing win. We're really excited," Rampling said. "We really loved our performances and being here in Australia. We're very happy and pleased."

Canada has now won all 13 synchro gold medals awarded at the Commonwealth Games since the sport was added in 1986. And with the crowd behind them, Rampling and Boudreau-Gagnon certainly didn't want to be responsible for ending that run.

"We did feel the pressure but it ended up turning out for the best," Rampling said.

Rampling and Boudreau-Gagnon left little chance of ending Canada's gold-medal run. Their combined score of 92.333 was 11 points better than the silver medalists from Australia.

The duo built a commanding lead in Friday's technical program, earning marks between 8.9 and 9.5 from the five judges -- no other team received a mark in the 9s -- for a total score of 46.167. They extended that lead during the free program, earning scores between 9.0 and 9.5 for a total of 46.250. Australia was again the closest competition, with a total score of 42.000.

Despite a convincing win, Boudreau-Gagnon, who also won gold in the solo competition, says the newly-formed duo can still improve.

"Since we are a new pair, it's natural that we make little errors but given that it has only been four months that we have been swimming together, we can certainly say that we did an exceptional job in the pool today," she said on the Synchro Canada website.

Rampling said the Commonwealth Games were important to fine-tune their programs.

"This competition was more about our performances. We are very happy with everything we have done here."

SYNCHRO GOLD: Isabelle Rampling of Burlington (right on centre podium in photo,) earned a gold medal for Canada in the synchro swimming duet competition. The duo continued a Commonwealth Games tradition of Canada winning every gold medal available in the sport

--Herb Garbutt