Help UBC Synchro to Attend Canadian Open
You can help UBC Synchro’s National-winning duet to compete in the 2018 Canadian Open Synchronized Swimming Championships!
Story Description
This season, Katie Stirrat and Olivia Zawadiuk made history for the UBC Thunderbirds Synchronized Swimming Sport Club by winning the duet event at the Canadian University Synchronized Swimming League’s 2018 National Championships. As a result, they have qualified to compete at the Canadian Open Synchronized Swimming Championships in Windsor, Ontario on April 28, 2018.
After a most successful season of working hard to achieve their goals, they would love nothing more than to go and compete with the rest of Canada’s senior duets and other international competitors. Katie and Olivia would be honoured to represent UBC at this event and show the country what they’re capable of! As active and independent students, they cannot afford to go without any funding, so they need your support in order to attend this competition.
Challenges & the Impact of Your Support
Katie and Olivia are so excited to have qualified to compete at the Canadian Open, but the only challenge holding them back is the cost associated with training for and attending this large-scale event. Costs for pool space rentals, coaching, airfare and hotel accommodations add up quickly. In order to represent UBC to the best of their ability, these swimmers must train at full capacity over the next few weeks. Being full-time students in the middle of their final exam period, it is impossible to have enough time to both train and earn an income great enough to attend this competition. Your support is critical for Katie and Olivia to compete at the Canadian Open.
Katie and Olivia are students who pay for their own costs to train and compete, as well as for tuition and housing. For their general synchro fees throughout the season, they would typically split many of the larger costs between 10+ other people and would get group booking deals for hotels and travel. Since it will be just the two of them training, traveling and competing, the cost will be far more than either of them can afford on their own. In order for them to fulfill their goal of going to represent UBC at Canada’s biggest synchronized swimming competition, they will need financial support. Any funds they receive will go towards travel expenses and training. Thank you for your support in helping two driven university athletes achieve their goal!
About us
This was Katie and Olivia’s first season swimming together. Olivia, a 3rd year Kinesiology student, has been a member of UBC Synchro for the last three seasons while this was Katie’s first year at UBC in the Faculty of Arts and first season training with UBC Synchro. Both Olivia and Katie began swimming at young ages and have since competed in some of the best competitive clubs in Canada. Olivia swam with both the British Columbia Aquasonics and the Calgary Aquabelles, and Katie swam with Vancouver Pacific Wave Synchro. Both Olivia and Katie went on to compete at a Canada Winter Games, (2011 and 2015) and have both even competed at the international level. Even more remarkably, Olivia has competed on a Canadian National team twice! Both swimmers are incredibly strong and accomplished athletes. Furthermore, they also excel in their academic and executive roles. Olivia and Katie have been training hard this season, and have proved themselves not only as champions, at both Westerns and Nationals, but also as a great team. They were so driven and passionate about this duet that they choreographed the entire routine by themselves and trained together outside of their set pool time in order to gain an advantage, but also to perfect the routine they put so much effort into. Clearly a pair of athletes who are worthy of a place amongst Canada’s best!
