In Synch with the music, again and again . . .

By: Marty Hastings in Sports April 30, 2012

When the average person gets a song stuck in their head, they usually do everything in their power not to listen to the tune.

The Kamloops Sunrays don’t have that choice.

This week in Victoria, four Sunrays — Naomi Woolverton, 16, Carly Helgason, 17, Skye Griffith, 15, and Katie Hohensee, 16 — are competing at the Canadian Open synchronized swimming championships, which run from Wednesday, May 2, to Sunday, May 6.

They will be performing to music that has been filling the Canada Games Aquatic Centre’s air for a long time.
“We’ve been practising with our music since last year after nationals,” said Helgason, who will swim at this year’s nationals in the junior duet category with Woolverton.
“It gets a bit tiring.”

Woolverton, a Sa-Hali secondary student, and Helgason, who attends NorKam secondary, chose music from the movie Once Upon a Time in Mexico‘s soundtrack.

“We just wanted something fast and something out of the box a little bit,” said Woolverton, who will perform to Christina Aguilera’s Burlesque in solo competition.

“I’ll be happy to start doing other stuff.”

It is not uncommon for the girls to be at the pool practising six times a week during the season, which runs from September to June.

The musical repetition does not stop when the goggles and bathing suits come off, either.

“Sometimes, the coaches say you should go home and visualize it once, and make sure it’s on your iPod so you can think it over and make sure you know what you’re doing with it,” said Helgason, who has competed at two national championships.

“I can’t watch burlesque the same way anymore.”

Helgason chose music from Blood Diamond‘s soundtrack for her solo routine.

“It took me quite a bit longer to pick my solo music,” she said.

“I like the theme of Africa. I’m more of a gentle swimmer, more graceful, and the music really suits me.”

Both upbeat and slower-paced music provides challenges for swimmers.

“The faster music keeps you going and pumps you up but, at the same time, you get tired faster,” Helgason said.

“Slower music, it’s not as hard, but it’s kind of boring after a while.”

Griffith and Hohensee, competing for the first time at nationals, will do solo and duet routines in the 16- to 18-year-old division.

There will be about 330 swimmers from across the country vying for podium finishes in Victoria.

Most of them — thank heavens — will be moving on to different music after the last note sounds at nationals on Sunday.

“Yeah, I’m pretty done with it,” Woolverton said.

IN SYNCH

By: Editor in Sports May 22, 2009

Rosilyn Tegart isn’t spending the summer enjoying the sun and relaxing — she has bigger plans.

The 20-year-old Kamloops native has spent the past two years training in Calgary with the Aquabelles in an attempt to make the jump to the Canadian synchronized swimming team.

By August, Tegart will know if her water work will result in her making a splash on the squad.

Tegart grew up in the Tournament Capital and was part of the Kamloops Synchronized Swim Club for 10 years.
When she was seven years old, she had friends in the sport and wanted to give it shot — but she was a year too young to join.

But her desire to try didn’t stop and, once she was old enough, she joined and hasn’t stopped swimming since.

“I just love competing,” Tegart said.

She’s hoping the months before national team trials will give her enough of a chance to work on her skills and fitness.

After graduating from South Kamloops secondary, Tegart made the move to Calgary with duet partner Cassidy Beaver-Nicol to pursue more swimming opportunities.

Last August, Beaver-Nicol made the national team program and moved to Montreal.

This year, Tegart is hoping the pair will get the chance to reunite.

She said she needed to make the move to Calgary to get more competition.

“The club there was awesome. It’s a big club. It was just a step up from Kamloops,” Tegart said.

“It’s a big club here, but it didn’t have as high of a level. In Calgary, I trained about 26 hours a week, in everything from flexibility to weight training and cardio.”

Spending the season taking part in the duet with a new partner this past season was difficult for Tegart, who noted she and Beaver-Nicol had spent 10 years swimming together and seemed to know instinctively what the other was doing.

“It does make a difference. I found it difficult switching,” she said. “We adjusted and did well.”

And the results showed.In early May, Tegart had a strong showing at the Canadian Open in Quebec.

Tegart and her duet partner, Emily Brooks, won the tier-seven senior free and technical-duet divisions, while Tegart was first in the tech-solo and second in the free-solo. The team was first in the technical-team division and third in the combo-team division.

Tegart will spend the next couple of months preparing for national team trials.

Once there, all swimmers will be given the same routines to perform and will be evaluated by the coaching staff and one judge. The end decision will be that of the coaches, but the judge will be marking swimmers on their technical skills.

Last season, the national team took 24 swimmers and ran two teams.

“It makes it more competitive because there is always someone there who wants your job,” Tegart said.

The national team is based in Montreal at the Centre for Excellence, where swimmers range in age from 17 to 26.

Finding solo success

By: Editor in Other Sports, Sports March 26, 2003

Rosilyn Tegart is learning just how big the Canada Games Aquatic Centre pool is.After a successful year of doubles with partner Cassidy Beaver-Nicol last season, which saw the two win silver medals at the Western Canadian Championships, the Kamloops Sun Rays synchronized swimming team member is swimming as a soloist.

The pair were forced to split up because Beaver-Nicol’s birthday falls in the first half of the year, pushing her up to the under-15 category. Tegart’s birthday is in the latter half of the year, keeping her in the under-14s.

“It’s really different,” says the 13-year-old Tegart of the change. “This is only my second year doing solos. Cassidy is still there at practice but, at competition, everyone is focusing on you.

“If you make a mistake in doubles, the judges might not see it or they might be looking at the other person. In solo, they’ll see it for sure. It makes me nervous.”

The nerves wash away as soon as she is in the water, however.

Tegart won two gold medals at the recent provincial championships in Surrey – one in solo routine and the other in figures – and qualified for the Western Canadian Championships, April 1-6, in Regina, Sask.

“I’m going to try for a medal. If I get Top 10 at Westerns, then I’ll qualify for nationals. This is my last year in under-14, so I want to do good.”

Last season, Tegart was ninth in solos at Westerns and finished 14th at nationals. She also captured gold in the team event at the national championships.

She and Beaver-Nicol will get another chance to compete together later this year when they travel to Selkirk, Sask. for the Western Canada Summer Games with Team BC.

Having trained in synchronized swimming for six years, Tegart says her ultimate goal is to one day compete at the Olympic level.

“Next year, I’m going to start working towards making it to the national team. That’s the first step to making Olympics.”