Northern Novas finish in second place at synchro meet

The competition may have been harder, but the end result was just the same: another stellar performance from members of the Whitehorse Northern Novas Synchro Club.

The competition may have been harder, but the end result was just the same: another stellar performance from members of the Whitehorse Northern Novas Synchro Club.

Taylor Hanna, 14, and Simone Kitchen, 13, were the only two members on the team who competed last weekend in the Tier 3 category at the Jean Peters Invitational meet in B.C.

The two didn’t let the steep competition faze them a bit, placing second in the duet event, which included seven teams.

What made the second place finish at the Jean Peters Invitational even more special was the fact that both girls competed in Tier 3 category for the first time.

“I thought they did a very well done routine,” said Novas coach Aura-Lea Harper.

“We did change tier levels, so I was a little bit worried, but they actually pulled it out really well. They are very committed those two, they really want to win.”

The Northern Novas are the only synchronized swim club in the Yukon.

Their season begins in September and the girls normally do intense training sessions, covering the sport’s basics up until February when they begin to work on their routines.

Routines in the sport include team, duet and figures, which is a solo event.

However, this year the group began working on their team, solo and duet routines in December, in preparation for a Calgary meet that was held in February.

Unfortunately cold weather ended up delaying their flight into Calgary, which resulted in the team not being able to take part in the competition.

The Northern Novas have a total of four competitive members on the team. The group practices twice during the week for 2 1/2. They also meet again on Sunday for a three-hour practice session.

This is the second year the group has been together and right from the beginning of the season they began to show signs of progress with the girls wanting to branch out and attempt new events.

Last season the team had only one duet, but currently the Northern Novas have two duets and four soloists, in addition to their team event.

The team’s highlights in 2008 include the group moving up to the Tier 3 category.

The move into Tier 3 was a result of the clubs previous competitive meet, which was also held in B.C.

At the meet, the Northern Novas won five medals, which included two gold medals in both figures and duet.

The team also won two silver medals in the team and duet events and medalled once again in figures, winning a bronze.

At competitions, the judging criteria in the sport ranges from a score of 1-10 and swimmers are evaluated in two main areas.

The first is technical, which involves a mark based on the execution of the overall routine.

The second evaluation is artistic, which is based on things such as appearance and facial expression.

In addition to winning the silver medal at the Jean Peters meet, Kitchen placed 18th in figures, while Hanna also did very well finishing in 25th out of 37 competitors.

Hanna said her only goal competing at the meet was to avoid finishing in last place in both duet and figures.

“I was expecting last, so I was so happy,” she said.

“It just felt that we had to work that much harder and do that much better and it was really unexpected.

When we were in Tier 2 we expected to get kind of high marks and in Tier 3 we were like ‘Oh we just don’t want to get blown away’ and we didn’t, which was really exciting.”

The Novas have one meet remaining, which will be held this coming weekend.

The meet is called MASY and will be the team’s largest and most difficult competition of the season. MASY will also conclude the competitive season for the Northern Novas.

Besides the Novas, synchronized swim clubs from Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan will be present at the event.

The whole team will compete in the Tier 3 category for the first time. The Northern Novas have been competing in Tier 2 for the past few years.

Also traveling to MASY is the Northern Novas Tier 1 squad, who will take part in their first competitive meet outside of the territory.

Jane Robinson-Boivin, 13, is a member on the Tier 1 team. She said she hopes to do well at her first Outside competition in the sport.

“I am extremely excited, but I am also nervous,” Robinson-Boivin said. “Since it is my first competition I would like to do well, but it’s more about having fun than trying it out.”

Robinson-Boivin said she is looking forward to performing the team routine the most at MASY.

“I think we will do the best in that and our routine is fun to do,” she said.

Ashtyn Gibbs has been synchronized swimmer for three years and is a member on the Tier 1 team. She said she doesn’t have any expectations going into MASY.

“I would like to do well,” she said. “I don’t expect too much because it is our very first competition, but I would really like to do well.

Gibbs, who is 12, said she is confident about how the team will do in MASY.

“I think we have really progressed this year and we are really so much better,” she said. “I think we will do really well.”

Sophia Topper, 13, is also a member on the Tier 1 team. She said the team has certain strengths that make her confident going into MASY.

“We are all very focused, so we can really concentrate on getting every last detail right.”

Topper said competing at MASY will be a highlight for her in the sport.

“It is an interprovincial meet, so so far it will be the biggest competition any of us pre-competitive swimmers have been to,” she said.

“It’s a really great competition because its mixed with all different provinces, so you can really see what swimmers from Alberta do differently.”