Finalists Determined for U.S. Synchronized Swimming National Championships

PALO ALTO, California, May 2. THE 2009 U.S. Synchronized Swimming National Championships continued today with the technical preliminary competition at the Avery Aquatic Center on the campus of Stanford University. In the solo tech competition, Natalia Tarasova of Canisius College and Santa Clara's Mary Killman led the pack in a first-place tie (93.167), while Barb Nesbitt of Ohio State took the second-place spot with a 93.000.

In today's duet action, Tarasova and Yulia Shepeleva (Canisius College) finished the day in a tie with Mary Killman and Layla Smith (Santa Clara), both posting a mark of 93.000. Ohio State's Meghan Kinney and Jillian Penner placed third with a 92.000.

In the team technical competition, Santa Clara grabbed the top spot with a 93.333. Stanford followed with a 92.333 and Ohio State placed third with a 92.167.

Today's tech routine scores will be combined with Thursday's free routine scores to determine the qualifiers who will advance to finals. Finals competition will take place on Saturday with eight routines per event. Finalists in each discipline can be located at the following link: http://www.usasynchro.org/events/nationals/main09.htm.

More than 100 elite athletes are competing for national titles in the solo, duet and team events in the nation's most prestigious competition. The 2009 U.S. National Championships mark the 64th year of national competition in the duet and team events and the 60th year of solo competition. Synchronized swimming requires a combination of strength, precision, grace and teamwork, and is considered a culmination of swimming, gymnastics and dance.

Finals will begin at 10:15 a.m. on Saturday. Tickets can be purchased at the gate for $15 for the general public and $10 with a Stanford ID. Saturday's finals events can be viewed live via webcast. Log on to www.TeamUSA.org and click on the "synchro" tab. For more information pertaining to the 2009 U.S. National Championships, contact Taylor Payne at taylor@usasynchro.org or (317) 507-3410.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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