Santa Clara Floats On Top Of The Competition
Aquamaids in Search of 15th National Title

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. - The 2006 U.S. National Synchronized Swimming Championships got underway today at the Ft. Lauderdale Aquatic Complex. The event runs through April 29 and features elite athletes vying for national titles in the solo, duet and team events in the nation's most prestigious competition.

The Santa Clara Aquamaids (Santa Clara, Calif.), the reigning U.S. National Champions made big waves Thursday by sweeping the free preliminary competition in the solo, duet and team events. U.S. National Team I Member Christina Jones (Fremont, Calif.) finished on top in the solo, duet and team competition. Jones teamed up with fellow Team I Member Andrea Nott (San Jose, Calif.) for the duet and with team members from Santa Clara for the team event.

Today's free routine scores in the solo, duet and team will be combined with Friday's technical preliminary scores to determine qualifiers for Saturday's finals.

The 2006 U.S. National Championships mark the 62nd year of national competition in the duet and team events and the 57th year of solo competition. In addition, the Championships will also facilitate the final selection of National Team II, which will be named Saturday. Team II will compete at the U.S. Open in Orlando, Fla. July 16-22, while Team I will represent the U.S. at the FINA World Cup in Yokohama, Japan, September 14-17.

Solo Preliminary Free Routine (Check www.usasynchro.org for complete results)
1. Christina JONES, (Santa Clara) 95.167, 2. Kanako KITAO (Walnut Creek) 93.833, 3. Sara LOWE (Stanford University) 93.167, 4. Becky KIM (The Ohio State University) 93.000, 5. Kate HOOVEN (Santa Clara) 92.500, 6. Barb NESBITT (Riverside) 91.167, 7. Layla SMITH (Santa Clara) 90.000; 8. Brooke ABEL (Riverside) 89.500, 9 . Kenyon SMITH (Santa Clara) 89.333, 10 . Jillian PENNER (Walnut Creek) 88.667

Duet Preliminary Free Routine (Check www.usasynchro.org for complete results)
1. Christina JONES, Andrea NOTT (Santa Clara) 95.500, 2. Sara LOWE, Courtenay STEWART (Stanford) 95.333, 3. Annabelle ORME, Kim PROBST (Walnut Creek) 94.333, 4. Janet CULP, Jennie CULP (Santa Clara) 93.667, 5. Barb NESBITT, Caitlin STEWART (Riverside) 92.833, 6T. Brooke ABEL, Meghan KINNEY (Riverside) 91.500, 6T. Carly GRIMSHAW, Chelsea LUKER (The Ohio State University) 91.500, 8. Poppy CARLIG, Sam BONGIOVANNI-DUCLOS, (Stanford University) 90.833, 9. Elizabeth MACAFEE, Heidi MCMAHON (Santa Clara) 89.333, 10. Karen MEYER, Jillian PENNER (Walnut Creek) 9.167

Team Preliminary Free Routine (Check www.usasynchro.org for complete results)
1. Santa Clara 97.000, 2. Stanford University 96.000, 3. The Ohio State University 95.167, 4. Walnut Creek 94.833, 5. Santa Clara (93.500), 6. The Ohio State University 93.167, 7. Riverside AQuettes 92.833 8. University of Alabama at Birmingham 92.333, 9. University of Incarnate Word 92.000, 10. Walnut Creek 8.667

Schedule of Events

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