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Northern Novas finish season with pair of competitions

Yukon's synchronized swimming team, the Northern Novas, closed out the season with two Outside competitions, securing spots at next year's Canada Winter Games.
synchroswim

Yukon’s synchronized swimming team, the Northern Novas, closed out the season with two Outside competitions, securing spots at next year’s Canada Winter Games.

Seven Novas competed at the Masy in Saskatoon, the week before last, and four at the Espoir, the national championship, in Montreal over the weekend.

“It doesn’t look like they did really well, but compared to what they were competing against, they did really well,” said Novas head coach Aura Lea Harper. “The points-system is out of 100 and their routines got 64. And Quebec, who of course was first, got 70. So that’s the kind of range they are in.”

The Novas’ best results came in the smaller Masy meet with Tier 6 competitor Katie Link taking first in both the solo and figures events. In addition, Novas Taylor Hanna and Simone Kitchen took the top spot in the duet competition. Link and teammate Olivia Duncan, who came second in the solo event, finished second in the duet portion of the competition.

The Novas’ Tier 2 swimmers also took in some strong results with Catherine Seal taking fifth in the solo event and Aston Gibbs taking sixth. Gibbs, with partner Jane Robinson-Boivon, also came 10th in the duets event.

At the Espoir, the Novas had less than stellar results, finishing in the bottom half of the results, but by simply participating all four of the Tier 6 swimmers qualified for next February’s Canada Winter Games in Halifax.

“They got to see the national team swim and got autographs from them, so it was a huge meet for them,” said Harper.

Montreal marked the end of the season for the Novas, but they will be back in the pool in September around which time the team will host an open house called See It, Try It, an opportunity for people interested in the sport to learn more about it and give it a try.

“They can come in and try the sport for free, and if they like it, they can register,” said Harper.

Contact Tom Patrick at

tomp@yukon-news.com