The University of the Incarnate Word synchronized swimming team sent just three athletes to Gainesville to compete in a tri-meet between UIW, the University of Georgia and host University of Florida this past weekend, but the trio of Cardinals dominated every event they were in.
UIW’s group – trio Rosilyn Tegart (a freshman), Alex Stensby (a junior), and Saki Fujise (a sophomore) – won the Trio Competition with a score of 81.833, with Florida taking second and Georgia third.
“They competed last week at Lindenwood (finishing 6th overall) and since then, they’ve made a lot of improvement,” assistant synchro coach Emily Van Vleck said. “Their swim this weekend took a big jump and they represented the Cardinals well.”
But the team wasn’t done with the trio event, putting on a clinic for the other teams as Fujise and Tegart finished first and second, respectively, in the solo competition (Fujise scoring an 81.833 and Tegart’s routine finishing just behind with an 81.667).
“Saki and Rosilyn’s solos were beautiful and the judges had very nice things to say about them,” Van Vleck, who took the team to Florida while head coach Kimberly Wurzel-LoPorto stayed back in San Antonio with the rest of the team, said.
In Sunday’s technical Elements competition – where all swimmers dress alike and are scored solely on their technical execution of various synchronized swimming moves – Incarnate Word’s athletes entered the ‘A’ grouping (where the top swimmers compete) and finished 1-2-3 on the score sheet.
Tegart took first place with an 81.415 and Stensby finished second with a 79.567. Fujise finished off the scores with a 77.897 for third place.
By taking the top three spots in the ‘A’ Elements, Incarnate Word won overall on Sunday.
Up next, the entire UIW synchro team will head back to Gainesville on February 26th through 28th for the 2010 South Collegiate Regional Championships, which will also be hosted by the Gator synchro program. Incarnate Word hosted the 2009 competition and won the overall title.