July 31, 1996
All for one
BY LARRY TUCKER -- Team Sun
ATLANTA -- There was no blundering Brazilian judge in a poolside chair this time around. Unlike Barcelona, no scoring error eliminated Canada from the synchronized swim team gold medal hunt, as happened to Sylvia Frechette in the Olympic solo four years ago.
But what started as an uphill struggle has suddenly become an attempt to climb this sport's equivalent of Mt. Everest.
"We need to have the swim of our lives," says Cari Read, one of the eight women on the Canadian team, as she looks forward to Friday's free routine.
Read and her teammates were slugged with an emotional hammer yesterday. They came out of the pool after swimming their technical routine to Beethoven's Ode to Joy feeling for all the world as if they'd turned in a near-flawless performance.
"We feel great in the water and joy when we swim," said Valerie Hould-Marchand. "We want to show that to everybody and I think we did that today."
Early woes
Unfortunately, the judges missed the message. Not entirely accidentally, either.
Just as figure skating judges have become infamous to marking early competitors low to leave room for later performances, synchro adjudicators over the years have come to claim a similar reputation.
It cost the Canadians, who drew a lousy number, swimming third in the group of eight nations. Even worse, the Canadians were the first of the bona fide medal contenders to enter the pool.
Consequently, despite their efforts when others, namely the U.S., followed with superb routines of their own, Canada's gold medal hopes look thin. They trail the U.S. by half a point, which is a huge margin in synchro, and lead third-place Japan by a mere 15/100 going into the free routine which accounts for 65% of the overall mark.
"What can I say?" Karen Fonteyne responded. "You can't do anything about it. You can swim your heart out, which I really believe we did. Then you stand there and watch the numbers flash."
There were a couple of 9.7s and a slew of 9.8s for the Canadians. Later, three perfect 10s and a raft of 9.9s for the Americans.
"It's bittersweet," Read admitted.
The Canadians need support now and they'll get it from within the team. They've worked so long and hard, leaving their homes and families to put personal lives behind and move to neutral Edmonton to train and live as a unit.
Read, Fonteyne and Karen Clark of Calgary. Hould-Marchand from Quebec City and Laval's Frechette. Janice Bremner of Vancouver. Lisa Alexander of Mississauga and Etobicoke's Erin Woodley. Their alternate, Kasia Kulesza of Laval.
Now, marrying their unique styles from across the country, they prepare the biggest night of their competitive career when they'll swim a routine that completely belies the myth Canadians are reluctant to display their patriotism.
Smile, you're on ...
"Friday we're really going to go out and have fun," Fonteyne said. "Our theme is Canadian unity and the anthem is woven into our music. We can't wait to swim it in front of all those Canadians out there supporting us."
Their mistakes must be miniscule if they are to hold off the Japanese and Russians for the silver medal. They must be non-existent if they're to have a shot at the Americans and the gold, a task further complicated because, once again, Canada drew the seventh-place start while the U.S. has the eighth and final swim.
"We need to have the swim of our lives," Read said. "To do that, you have to swim from the heart, which I know we've got covered. Being able to take the risk to do that is not something anyone here is afraid of. It's what we've been groomed for.
"I'm not a betting woman. But I would go 50-50. I know what we've got in us. Now, what the people in the chairs have in them ... who knows?"
