Oh, Canada!

Canada brings a 16-athlete roster brimming with talent. Jacqueline Simoneau is coming off a breakthrough start to the year where the 27-year-old won gold in the Women Solo Free and silver in the Women Solo Technical at the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024.

Simoneau partners up in the duets with Audrey Lamothe, a three-time winner in World Aquatics events in 2022. Together, the duo finished fifth and sixth in the duet free and technical events, respectively, at Doha 2024. They backed this up with double bronzes in these two duets when the Artistic Swimming World Cup took place in Paris earlier this month. Also look for Canada to shine in the team events, especially in the Team Acrobatic routine.

Lamothe, two-time bronze medallist at the 2023 World Cup held in Canada, recalled what it was like competing in Markham last year: “Standing on the podium at home, hearing the crowd support, it’s a feeling like no other. We had a fantastic welcome in Markham last year, and I’m excited for the city and the country as the 2024 World Cup returns to Markham. I can’t wait!”

For Lamothe, Team Canada and Company, the wait now turns to their performances in the pool. 

101 Athletes, 16 Countries

One needs only to start at the top of the alphabetical country list to see the quality of the field coming in Markham. Austria will be represented by their Fukuoka 2023 World Championship gold duet of Anna-Maria and Eirini-Marina Alexandri. After a lengthy injury break following Fukuoka, the Alexandri duo come into Markham having won the Women Duet Free event four weeks’ ago in Paris.   

China’s nine-athlete roster headliner may be Xu Huiyan. The 18-year-old clinched three golds at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup 2024 stop in Beijing back in April and collected World Championship bronze in the Women Solo Technical event in Doha.

 At the opening Artistic Swimming World Cup in Beijing, China bagged six gold of the eleven events on offer.

Spain brings a well-rounded roster that should be in the medal mix throughout the three days of competition in Markham. Their squad includes Emma Garcia, Mireia Hernandez Luna, and Dennis Boneu Gonzalez for the third leg of the 2024 World Cup tour.

While all the teams are bringing artistry with excellence, keep an extra eye out for the delegations from Aruba, Italy, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Ukraine and the United States.

Super Final Connection

The Artistic Swimming World Cup 2024 series encompasses four events. After tour stops in Beijing and Paris, soloists, duets and teams need another standout performance in Markham, Canada to ensure their 2024 World Cup season culminates at the highly anticipated Super Final slated for early July in Budapest, Hungary.

Following the performances from the three opening World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup events, the top 12 in each event category will secure their berth in the Super Final in the Hungarian capital. 

Canada’s Remarkable Recent Hosting Run | 116 World Aquatics Event & Montreal 1976 Olympic Games

Canada has a rich history of hosting top international aquatics events, with a remarkable 116 World Aquatics competitions under its belt. This legacy of welcoming the world’s best aquatics athletes began with the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games.

However, it wasn’t another decade-plus that a global aquatics event returned to Canada when Toronto hosted the first-ever Swimming World Cup in late 1988. In the 35 years since, the country has hosted 115 more World Aquatics events – including the World Aquatics Championships in Montreal in 2005.

Artistic swimming has contributed to this incredible tally with eight World Cup/World Series events, the Artistic Swimming World Trophy in 2009, and the World Junior Artistic Swimming Championships in 2022.