Five Olympic Duets To Compete at Synchro America Open

Photo Courtesy: Joao Marc Bosch

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Synchronized swimming fans will have a chance to see some of the world’s best duets compete in their final event before the Olympic Games when the Synchro America Open begins in Riverside, Calif., on July 14.

In addition to the U.S. duet of Anita Alvarez (Kenmore, N.Y.) and Mariya Koroleva (Concord, Calif.), 2016 Olympic duets from Spain, Canada, Great Britain and Argentina will compete at the Riverside Aquatic Complex at Riverside City College, July 14-16.

“This is a chance for fans to see incredible synchro athletes compete one more time before this year’s Olympic Games in Rio,” USA Synchro CEO Myriam Glez said. “We’ll have 12 Olympians who have also won numerous medals at the Pan American Games and World Championships over the years. It should be three great days of excellent synchro.”

Swimmers will compete in the following senior (15 and older) and junior (15-18) events: figures (juniors), solo, duet, team, mixed and combo (junior and senior combination).

Tickets are $10 for each morning session and $20 for each evening session. An event pass is $60. The Synchro America Open will be live streamed by Take It Live at http://takeitlive.tv/livesynchro/.

The 2016 Olympic duets competing are:

* Anita Alvarez and Mariya Koroleva, Team USA
Alvarez and Koroleva have had a stellar 2016 season, having won gold and silver medals at the China Open and bronze medals at the German and French opens. They earned their spot in the 2016 Games by finishing seventh at the Olympic Games Qualification Tournament in Rio in March. This will be Alvarez’s Olympic debut, while Koroleva will be making her second appearance at the Games.

* Ona Carbonell and Gemma Mengual, Spain
Carbonell won silver in duet and bronze in team at the 2012 Olympics, has competed in multiple World and European Championships, and has won more than 80 medals during her synchro career. Mengual, who earned silver medals in duet and team at the 2008 Olympics and also competed at the 2000 Games and 2004 Games, is coming out of retirement at age 39 to compete with Carbonell in Rio.

* Jacqueline Simoneau and Karine Thomas, Canada
Simoneau and Thomas won gold medals in duet and team at the 2015 Pan Am Games. Before that, Simoneau won figures and finished second in solo at the 2014 Junior World Championships. Thomas, who has been on the Canadian National Team for 10 years, will be making her second Olympic appearance.

* Katie Clark and Olivia Federici, Great Britain
The duo both competed at the 2012 Games. Clark has taken part in several World and European Championships and came out of retirement last year. This will be Federici’s third Olympics. She won a silver medal in duet at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and also competed at numerous World and European Championships in her career.

* Etel Sanchez and Sofia Sanchez, Argentina
The twin sisters have swum together for a while, including at the 2012 London Olympics. They competed at the past four World Championships and at the 2015 Pan Am Games.

Other notable competitors include China’s Wen Wen Jiang and Ting Ting Jiang, twin sisters who won silver medals in team at the 2012 and 2008 Olympics; China’s National Team duet of Liuyi Wang and Qianyi Wang, twin sisters who won bronze at the 2014 Junior World Championships; Spain’s National Team, which won bronze medals at the 2016 European Championships; Mexico’s National Team, silver medalists at the 2015 Pan Am Games; the Brazil Paineiras Synchro Club; China Sichuan Provincial Team; Ontario Training Center Team; and Quebec Provincial Team.

In addition, Virginie Dedieu, a three-time world champion in solo and a bronze medalist in duet at the 2000 Olympic Games, will perform an exhibition solo on July 16.

For more information on the Synchro America Open, go to http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Synchronized-Swimming/Events/2016/July/14/2016-Synchro-America-Open.
For more information on USA Synchro, visit http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Synchronized-Swimming.aspx, facebook.com/usasynchro and @usasynchro

USA Synchro contributed this report.

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