Proudly supported by Barrier-Free Canada,British Columbia Aboriginal Network
on Disability Society, Canadian Abilities Foundation, Canadian Council on
Rehabilitation and Work, Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, Easter Seals,
ICORD, March of Dimes, and the Rick Hansen Institute.
RickHansen.com/EveryoneEverywhere
The Rick Hansen Foundation wants to create a world that is accessible to everyone.
That means getting all people, regardless of their abilities, to all places.Whether
it’s at work, at play, a public building, or a private business, let’s create a Canada
that is accessible for all.
THURSDAY,AUGUST1,2019 | THEGLOBEANDMAILO B13
JacquelineSimoneauandClaudia
Holzner developed a preswim
routine to calm their nerves
when they joined forces as an art-
istic swimming tandem. It in-
volves a declaration of trust and a
reference to a Disney character.
And it seems to be working.
Simoneau, of Chambly, Que.,
and Calgary’s Holzner combined
to defend Canada’s artistic swim-
ming duet title on Wednesday at
the Pan American Games, and
earned Canada a spot at the 2020
Tokyo Olympics in the process.
The Canadian tandem finished
first with a total score of 180.0343
points. Mexico was second with
174.3661 points, and the United
States third with 170.6698 points.
“It was such a special mo-
ment,” Holzner said. “Before we
swam, our coach [Gabor Szaud-
er] was like, ‘Jackie, go for a sec-
ond Olympics,’ and ‘Claudia, be-
come an Olympian.’ “
Simoneau and Holzner, who
were both members of Canada’s
gold-medal winning team entry
at the 2015 Pan Am Games in To-
ronto, started swimming togeth-
er as a duet in 2017. Simoneau
said she and Holzner came up
with a unique preswim routine
the moment their partnership
was formed.
“We hold each other’s hands
and we look each other in the eye
and we say, ‘I trust you.’ And then
there’s a secret word that we say
right before we go.
“We came up with this the
moment we started swimming
together. It’s a ridiculous word,
but for us it just means having a
calm confidence. It’s Perry. Perry
the platypus. It’s a TV character
on the Disney showPhineas and
Ferb.”
Simoneau and Holzner return-
ed to the pool later Wednesday as
part of Canada’s nine-swimmer
squad in team competition, with
another Olympic berth on the
line.
Tina Irwin of Stouffville, Ont.,
riding Laurencio, took silver in
individual dressage with a score
of 77.780. Sarah Lockman of the
U.S. won gold with 78.980. Irwin
was part of Canada’s squad that
won gold in the team dressage
event on Monday and earned a
berth at the 2020 Games.
The men’s squash team of
Montreal’s Shawn DeLierre, NickSachvie of St. Catharines, Ont.,
and Calgary’s Andrew Schnell
picked up a bronze medal after
losing 2-0 to Colombia in the
semi-finals. The Canadian wom-
en played the United States for
gold later Wednesday. That guar-
anteed Canada would win a re-
cord seven squash medals at one
Pan Am Games.
Michelle Li of Markham, Ont.,
advanced to the women’s bad-
minton semi-finals with a 2-0
(21-9, 26-24) win over Mexico’s
HaramaraGaitan.Toronto’sBrian
Yang of defeated Osleni Gurrero
of Cuba 2-1 (21-10, 15-21, 21-13) to
advance to the men’s semi-finals.
Toronto’s Rachel Honderich
and Kristen Tsai of Surrey, B.C.,
wontheirwomen’sdoublesquar-
ter-final 2-0 (21-3, 21-3) over a
team from Peru. Tsai then
teamedwithNylYakuraofPicker-
ing, Ont., for a 2-0 (21-10, 21-14)
win over a Cuban tandem on a
mixed doubles quarter-final.
Winnipeg’s Curtis Wennberg
and Amanda Chuboda of Spruce
Grove, Alta., took bronze in
mixed trap shooting, finishing
behind two American teams.
Wennberg and Chuboda just mis-
sed out on an Olympic berth, as
thetoptwofinishersearnedspots
for the Tokyo Games.THECANADIANPRESSCanadatakeshomegoldinartisticswimmingduet
Simoneau,Holznerstay
cool,outlastingtheU.S.
andMexicotoearn
another2020berth
LIMA
TinaIrwinofStouffville,Ont.,tooksilverinindividualdressagewitha
scoreof77.780onWednesdayinLima.DANIELAPUY/GETTYIMAGESLIMACanadian gymnast Ellie
Black’s breakout performance
came four years ago in Toronto.
Her Pan Am Games encore in
Lima was on par and nearly one
better.
Black’s record-smashing run
to the podium continued
Wednesday with a silver medal
in the women’s beam event at
the Villa El Salvador Sports
Centre.
She was also in position for
bronze in the floor competition,
but missed the podium when
the final gymnast – teammate
Brooklyn Moors – delivered a
knockout performance for gold.
Black was cheering her on
throughout the performance
and they hugged after the scores
were finally posted after a 10-
minute delay.
“I was really excited for
Brooklyn,” Black said. “I wasn’t
really thinking about myself, I
was thinking about her.”
Moors, from Cambridge, Ont.,
won team silver with Black last
weekend before reaching the top
of the podium here for the first
time with a score of 13.900.
“I’m in shock,” Moors said. “I
had expectations for myself, butI just wanted to go out there and
do what I’d been practising. It’s
pretty incredible.”
Moors was docked one-10th of
a point for stepping outside the
boundary, but still held off Kara
Eaker of the United States at
13.800. Officials conducted video
reviews of both routines after an
American appeal, a Canadian
team spokesman said.
Brazil’s Flavia Saraiva took
bronze with 13.766, while Black
was fourth at 13.433.
Black, who earlier won gold in
the vault and individual all-
around, along with bronze inthe uneven bars, became Cana-
da’s most decorated Pan Am
gymnast on Tuesday. Her effort
in the final of the five-day com-
petition sent her career Pan Am
medal count to double digits.
Her score of 13.566 was nearly
two points behind Eaker (15.266)
and just ahead of American
Riley McCusker (13.333).
Black, who won three gold,
one silver and one bronze in
Toronto, matched her overall
medal output this time around.
The Lima midway point is still
a few days away, but she has
already cemented her positionas one of the athletes of the
Games.
“You hear it and you read it
and you see it,” she said of the
hype. “But it’s a couple long
days of competition, so I was
really just trying to stay focused
on my gymnastics and not so
much the results or all the crazy
cool history things.
“But now that I’m finished, I
think it’s important to be able to
soak that in and enjoy that. It is
really amazing for this sport, for
Canadian gymnastics and for
Canada.”
THECANADIANPRESSCANADIANGYMNASTBLACKEARNSSILVERINWOMEN’SBEAM,BRINGSPANAMMEDALCOUNTINTODOUBLEDIGITS
PANAMGAMES