Jessica Guenther swam for the Saskatoon Aqualenes until 2009. Placing first at 2009 Nationals in Figures, 2nd in solo she put herself onto the Junior National Team. After a very successful UANA Junior Pan Am (Jessica placed first in every event she was in), Jessica furthered her synchro career by going to swim with Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.



Aquasquirts

What do you get when you combine active, water-friendly kids, a turnkey swimming program and heaps of fun? AquaSquirts! Synchro Canada and the Red Cross have partnered to offer this new, play-based water orientation program. AquaSquirts helps strengthen swimming skills and build a child's confidence in the water. The teaching of these skills is cleverly disguised in a weekly theme-based format that focuses on fun, imagination and creativity in the water. Children aged 11 and under who are comfortable in chest deep water, can swim 2 meters or more and float on their front and back (note: less experience d swimmers can use floatation devices for assistance if needed) can participate in Aquasquirts. A school-aged child who has participated in Red Cross SwimKids 3 (complete or incomplete) can enroll in the Aquasquirts program. Preschoolers who have successfully completed the Whale program by Red Cross would also benefit from Aquasquirts. AquaSquirts is perfect for the early swimmer who is having trouble advancing to the next swimming level, but who is interested in spending more time enjoying water sports. It is also a creative way to recruit new synchronized swimmers to your club since there are lots of basic synchro skills that are part of each week's lesson.

Since the program's inception in 2001, hundreds of children have experienced AquaSquirts throughout Canada! AquaSquirts is particularly popular in western Canada and AquaSquirts Too, the follow-up program to AquaSquirts, is now available!

Both instructors and participants are enthusiastic about AquaSquirts.  One instructor stated, "I am actually excited to teach my next class and use these ideas. Thanks for making teaching fun again". Participant, Julia, age 7, says "AquaSquirts was super fun.  We used our imagination and our show at the end was awesome!"

If synchronized swimming clubs are interested in offering an AquaSquirts program check out the website at www.aquasquirts.ca Promotional material, certificates and stickers, a detailed Instructor's Guide that includes a complete set of lesson plans, and AquaSquirts goodies are all available to help get you started. Your coaches can be quickly trained to teach the program or synchronized swimmers (aged 16+) can take the Synchro Instructor training to become qualified to teach AquaSquirts. Don't miss out on this opportunity to present something new and innovative to your swimmers this season – check out AquaSquirts today!

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