Waterpolo: An historic silver for the waterpolo men

The Canadian men made history in Guadalajara tonight with a silver medal in waterpolo, this was a first for the men's waterpolo in the PanAm games. Unfortunately the gold medal and the automatic 2012 Olympic berth that would have accompanied it eluded the men as they lost to the USA. They'll get another chance though to qualify for the Olympics in April and there's no doubt that our waterpolo team will see the Americans again next summer in London.

Waterpolo: It's silver for the waterpolo girls

It was a heartbreaking and unprecedented game to watch - which we did in our household from the first minute of play. The Canadian girls went into the 1/2 ahead of the americans 7 to 4 but by the end of regulation play it was 8 to 8 and time for overtime play. No score in one 5 minute extra period. No score in a 2nd 5 minute extra period. So, it came down to a shoot out. A full round (5 shots each) and there were no breaks.

In the second round the Canadians kept one shot out. Would it be a win for Canada? No. The American goalie managed to keep the next shot out too. It went to 4. Yes, 4 rounds of shootout shots until finally the Canadians missed a shot and it was over.

The American team wins gold and the Canadians the silver in one of the closest games imaginable.

Tomorrow it's the men in another Canada vs USA game.

Diving: The latest news from Guadalajara

It was a bronze in Guadalajara in diving for Canadian Meaghan Benfeito at the PanAm games this week. In Waterpolo both the men and women will be competing against the US for the gold medal. The women will be Friday night at 6pm eastern and the men on Saturday night at 6pm eastern. It was a near thing for the men as their game with Brazil was close and almost as nasty as a late night NAA game. Still, the men came through and will head to the Gold medal round on Saturday. These games are critical as the winners are guaranteed a berth at next year's Olympics in London, England. The silver medalists will have to fight in a later tournament with a much larger group of competitors for an Olympic spot.

If you're keen to follow the scores in real time (and you haven't figured out how to cut into the foreign lifestream), you can do so at Women's game and Men's game. Click on 'Run' next to the game in progress and you'll see the update.

Swimming: More hardware for the Canadians at the PanAm games

Gotta love the PanAm games. Now, if we could only produce these results in an Olympic year! It's silver for the girls in the 4x100 Medley. Gabby Soucisse and Ashley McGregor did a great job reprenting the West Island for that medal. Of the 4 medals Canada has taken for swimming thus far, McGregor has all 4. Diving is not yet underway. In waterpolo the ladies dominated with a 23 to 2 mauling of Venexuela (You'd think they'd have a mercy rule like we do here in the NAA!) They men were equally unmerciful to host team Mexico who they beat by 16 to 4. NAA'ers and other West Islanders are represented on both the men's and women's teams.

Synchro: More medals from Mexico

More medals are on their way to Canada from the PanAm games. Ashley McGregor took Gold in the 200M breastroke. In Synchronized Swimming, Canada added to the Gold medal rush with top of the podium wins in the Duet and Team events. Go to www.guadalajara2011.org.mx for more details.

Swimming: West Island girls on the map in Mexico with PanAm games in swimming

So far, it's two bronze medals for Canada in swimming (among the many medals thus far) West Islander Ashley McGregor took a bronze in the 100M Breaststroke and was on the girl's 4x100 Freestyle relay for another bronze. She was joined on the relay by Caroline Lapierre, Jennifer Beckberger, and Paige Schultz. Lots more to come as the other aquatic sports get under way!

General: Keep track of our athletes at the PanAm 2011 games in Guadalajara

We've got all kinds of athletes at the PanAm games in Mexico starting today. You can keep track of the results at the following links:

Swimming

Waterpolo

Diving

Synchronized Swimming

Lifeguard: Have you always dreamed of being a lifeguard?

Have you dreamed since you were little of being a lifeguard? Did you come to the pool before anyone else to do your Bronze Medallion, your Bronze Cross and now you've just signed up for Nationals? Then this is your chance.

Yes, the pool season just ended but that means that the hiring season is already well underway. If you're hoping to get a job in one of the NAA pools next year you'll want to look at the Hiring Contacts Page here on the site to get the emails and phone numbers of all the hiring managers for all the NAA pools.

Hiring is not really complete until early in the spring but some pools will be done in the next couple of weeks so get your resumes in early if you can.

Synchro: DDO Synchro Placement Days

The well renowned DDO Synchro Team will be holding its annual Placement Days on September 14 and 15 to introduce young athletes to synchronized swimming lessons and competition. Find out more in this message or contact Christiane Callary at christianecallary@hotmail.com. Dollard Synchro auront leurs Journée de Sélection le 14 et 15 de septembre Contactez Christiane Callary a christianecallary@hotmail.com pour des renseignements.

Diving: Proposed changes for diving for 2012

For those of you at the last NAA meeting, you know that Elyssa had a couple of proposed changes for the Diving section of the Constitution. As promised, we're giving those to you here so you can think about them during the off-season.

4.3.2 Each compulsory dive must be selected from the following dives, with no repeats and no exceptions. The dives may be performed in any position.
101 – Front dive 401 – Inward dive
201 – Back dive 5111 – Front Dive 1/2 twist.
301 – Reverse dive

4.3.2 Compulsory dives shall consists of any dive with a degree of difficulty equal to or less than 1.7.

4.3.5 A diver in any age-group may not execute more than two (2) dives in any one category (Forward, backward, reverse, inward or twist). If a diver executes 2 dives from the same category, one MUST be a compulsory and the remaining an optional.

4.3.5 A diver in any age-group may not execute more than three (2) dives in any one category (Forward, backward, reverse and inward). Divers executing dives in the twist category must not compete more than two (2) dives in the same direction (Forward, backward, reverse and inward). Ie a front flip with a full twist (5122) is not considered in the same direction and a back flip with a full twist (5222).