Synchro America Open To Show Off Olympic Spirit

Jul 11, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Team Canada competes in team synchronized swimming during the 2015 Pan Am Games at Pan Am Aquatics UTS Centre and Field House. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher/USA Today Sports Images

This year’s Synchro America Open presented by Le Rêve – The Dream, the only international synchronized swimming event held in the U.S., will have a decidedly Olympic flavor once competition begins June 22 at the Nassau County Aquatic Center.

The event, part of the inaugural FINA Synchronized Swimming World Series, will include numerous Olympians, a synchro trailblazer, fire-breathers and a musical act to help celebrate Olympic Day. Held annually on June 23, Olympic Day commemorates the birth of the modern Olympic Games in 1894. Olympic Day’s mission is to promote fitness, well-being, culture and education, and the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect.

More than 130 elite synchronized swimmers from 13 countries will compete June 22-24 for numerous titles in junior and senior divisions. Among the competitors will be Team USA’s Anita Alvarez (Kenmore, N.Y.), a 2016 Olympian who won gold in solo earlier this year at the China Open; Spain’s Ona Carbonell, who won silver and bronze medals at the 2012 Olympics; and Canada’s Jacqueline Simoneau, who competed at the 2016 Rio Games.

Alvarez will compete in the solo event as well as in duet with Victoria Woroniecki (Palm Coast, Fla.).

The Synchro America Open presented by Le Rêve – The Dream also will include Team USA’s Bill May (Cicero, N.Y./Las Vegas), who won gold and silver in mixed duet at the 2015 FINA World Championships, the first time men were allowed to compete at the FINA-sanctioned event. May will compete in mixed duet with Kanako Kitao Spendlove (Las Vegas), a silver medalist for Japan at the 2004 Olympic Games.

Fans will be able to get autographs from the Olympians and international competitors on special postcards featuring the athletes.

Members of the U.S. Senior National Training Squad set to compete at the event are: Anita Alvarez (Kenmore, N.Y.); Elizabeth Davidson (Northridge, Calif.); Nicole Dzurko (Monte Sereno/Los Gatos, Calif.); Rachel Jager (Williamsville, N.Y); Jacklyn Luu (Milpitas, Calif.); Louisa Strutynski (Carmel, Calif./Calgary, Alberta); Alexandra Suarez (San Diego, Calif.); Karensa Tjoa (San Jose, Calif.); Natalia Vega (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico); Monica Velazquez-Stiak (Phoenix, Ariz.); and Victoria Woroniecki (Palm Coast, Fla.).
Olympic Day on Friday, June 23, will include a performance by Hope’s Fire Fantasies, featuring multiple tricks with live fire. On Saturday the New York Belles, an all-female a cappella group, with perform.

The FINA Synchronized Swimming World Series integrates synchro events from all over the world, with each leg staged in conjunction with existing national opens and competitions. The 2017 circuit includes a total of seven events, with the swimmers accumulating points based on results. For more information of the FINA Synchronized Swimming World Series, go to http://www.fina.org/news/fina-launches-new-synchro-world-series.

For more information on the Synchro America Open presented by Le Rêve – The Dream, go to http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Synchronized-Swimming/Events/2017/June/21/2017-Synchro-America-Open.

Press release courtesy of USA Synchro

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