A former St. Pierre resident is set to represent Canada on the international stage after earning a spot on the country’s junior national artistic swimming team.
From St. Pierre to Budapest
Jasmine Peloquin is currently training in Montreal ahead of the World Aquatics Junior Artistic Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
The competition marks her first international meet and comes after years of dedication to the sport.
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“Everything that I’ve trained for the past 10 years, and the three years in Calgary, has been worth it,” she says.
“It’s a dream come true.”
The talented swimmer moved from southeastern Manitoba to Calgary to pursue high-performance training before being selected to Team Canada.
Building trust, flying high
While the official competition lineup has not yet been finalized, Peloquin expects to compete in two team events: the technical team routine and the acrobatic team routine.
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The technical event requires athletes to perform a routine featuring mandatory elements, with judges scoring artistic impression, difficulty and execution.
The acrobatic event, meanwhile, showcases high-flying lifts and throws.
“It’s literally just throwing people in the air and seeing how many times they can flip,” says Peloquin.
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Preparing for competition involves much more than time in the pool.
Peloquin says athletes rehearse routines on land, carefully practicing timing, breathing and positioning before taking those movements into the water.
Strength and flexibility training also play a key role.
She says trust among teammates is essential.
“We all have so much trust in each other,” she says.
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Team Canada Artistic Swimming Team
“We have so many team bonding exercises that we do.”
Canada’s junior national team is coached by Yingli Hu, a two-time Olympian originally from China, along with coaches Salma and Sam from Quebec.
The team will perform two distinctly different routines in Budapest.
Their technical routine is set to music by Canadian icon Celine Dion, while the acrobatic routine features an Avatar theme.
“This is my first international meet, so I’m a little bit nervous, but very excited,” Peloquin says.
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“I’ll be by my teammates side. I have amazing coaches with me, so I’m very happy to be doing it with them.”
Peloquin leaves for Hungary on Saturday.
The team will spend several days training before competition begins, and she also plans to spend an extra day in Budapest with her family after the championships conclude.
With files from Corny Rempel