The Neighbours section of the September 24th edition of the Calgary Herald posted a front page article on two of our athletes, Gabriella Brisson and Claudia Holzner. The article focused on these girls’ achievements over the summer as members of the 13-15 year old National Team and their outstanding results at the Comen Cup in Belgrade, Serbia in August.

Gabriella Brisson, left, and Claudia Holzner, who are both members of the Calgary Aquabelles, have been swimming together since they were eight. Photograph by: Ted Jacob, Calgary Herald, For Neighbours

You can read the full article at the Calgary Herald’s website.

The Coaching Association of Canada and Campbell’s Chunky Soup, in association with TSN, have launched their “Chunky MVC: Most Valuable Coach” contest!

This program encourages the millions of Canadians involved in community, amateur and competitive sports to visit http://www.coach.ca/chunky/ to nominate a coach who has made a real difference in their lives and the lives of others by reflecting and promoting the values of leadership, activeness and community. This year’s winner of Chunky MVC will receive a prize package valued at $25,000 for his or her athletes and community!

If you know a coach that deserves recognition for the outstanding work they do, then go to http://www.coach.ca/chunky/ and nominate that coach to be the Chunky MVC!

For more information, contact:

Britany Gordon
Assistant, Programs and Communications
Coaching Association of Canada
613-235-5000, ext. 9-2389
chunkymvc@coach.ca

After a very successful 2009 season, the athletes and coaches of the Centre of Excellence and the Calgary Aquabelles took some time off over the summer. To begin the 2010 season with a bang, the Centre of Excellence National AA/A Team Trials took place on August 28th and 29th in Montreal.

The Calgary Aquabelles that participated were Claire Friesen, Cassidy Beaver-Nicol, Sandy Gill and Rosilyn Tegart. When it was all said and done, 3 of the athletes re-qualified; Claire, Cassidy and Sandy are back in Montreal for another year of high performance training to compete for Canada over the next 14 months. Rosilyn has returned to Kamloops and is looking into attending school in the US with a potential synchro scholarship. We wish them all the best of luck!

On a similar note, former Centre of Excellence and Calgary Aquabelles Member, Alison McKenny, will be heading to Florida on September 16th where she will be working on a Royal Carribbean cruise ship performing in the new show “Oasis of the Sea”. Good luck Alison, it sounds like an amazing experience!

We are all very proud of each and every one of you and wish you good luck and happiness!

2 Calgary Aquabelles are currently in Serbia with the 13-15 National Team competing in the 2009 Comen Cup.

Today, Claudia Holzner and Gabriella Brisson had an amazing day in the pool! In figures, they were the top 2 placing Canadians in the large international field. Claudia finished 8th and Gabe finished 12th. Due to their high placement in figures, Claudia and Gabe were selected to swim in the Duet Finals where they placed 4th! What a great day for these young girls! They will finish off their competition in Serbia with the Team Finals, in which they are entering 2nd place after prelims, only behind Russia!

Great job Claudia and Gabe! We are all very proud of you. Thank you for representing Canada and the Aquabelles with such grace and strength. Congratulations from everyone at the Aquabelles!

The Calgary Aquabelles are very excited about our upcoming year and the opportunities that are available for athletes in our both our Pre-competitive and Competitive programs.

For the 2009-2010 competition year, we are planning for teams and extras in Tiers 1, 2, and 3 for the Provincial Age Class (Wildrose) as well as Tier 6 (both 15&Under and 16&Over), Tier 7 Junior, and Tier 7 Senior for the National Age Group.

We welcome all synchronized swimming athletes to join our programs. Please visit the Programs Page to review the information for our Pre-Competitive, Wildrose, and NAG programs and download their respective registration packages.

Under the leadership of Head Coach Jenn Tregale, our athletes will enjoy working with and developing under our staff of highly skilled and accomplished coaches. Our expert lineup includes: Pam Larose (Wildrose Co-ordinator), Laurel Hindle, Courtenay Grant, Jessie Drabinsky, Kelly Kryczka-Irwin, and Sarah Alexander. For high performance training, we have once again retained Leslie Sproule and Julia Spivak who will lead our athletes through flexibility training. Check out the the About Page to learn more about our coaching team.

The Calgary Aquabelles are a high performance Long Term Athlete Development Program and have adopted the “Promoting a Positive Sport Environment” program, which was developed by the Canadian Sport Centre Calgary.

If you have any questions, please contact Jenn Tregale at jenntregale@shaw.ca. To register a place in one of our programs this fall, please call the Aquabelles Office at 403-209-2941. In addition, be sure to complete the appropriate registration documents and return them to our office at the Talisman Centre:

Calgary Aquabelles
2225 Macleod Trail South
Calgary, Alberta, T2G 5B6

The Canadian Junior National Team, currently training at the Talisman Center, invites you to their send-off Water Show before their competition at the UANA Pan-American Junior Championships in North Carolina this August!

Come on down to the Talisman Centre on Wednesday, August 5th at 7:00 PM, to enjoy their hard work as they perform their routines! Donations to the Synchro Canada National Team Program will be gratefully accepted.

Thanks for your support and we’ll see you there!