Abel on National Team which wins gold at FINA World Trophy Cup

Fallbrook’s Brooke Abel was one of the US National Team members who took home a gold medal in synchronized swimming’s inaugural FINA World Trophy Cup.

Abel and her teammates earned a gold medal in the combo event, which incorporates five different routines into a seven-minute program. The United States had a score of 97.667 while Russia placed second with a score of 97.333 and Spain took third with a score of 96.667.

“That was just a really big jump for us,” Abel said of the gold medal. “Just getting first in one event was really good.”

FINA is the international governing body of four different water sports: swimming, synchronized swimming, diving, and water polo. The inaugural FINA World Trophy Cup was held in Moscow, Russia, and took place October 26-29.

Abel had traveled to two other US National Team events this year: the Swiss Open in the Zurich area in July and the World Championship in Yokohama, Japan, in August. The US team won the Swiss Open, which included less than half a dozen countries and some Swiss clubs, while finishing fourth in the World Championship.

Abel notes that the gold medal in Moscow was more significant than the first-place finish in Switzerland. “Japan and Russia were definitely bigger competition,” she said.

Overall the United States finished fourth in the FINA World Trophy Cup with a score of 290.001. Russia won the cup with a point total of 295.999 while Spain scored 292.334 and Japan finished with 290.333 points. The scores reflect the cumulative duet, team, and combination results. Abel participated in the combo and free routines in Moscow but not in the duet competition. The United States placed fourth in the free routine with a score of 96.667.

Between the World Championship and the FINA World Trophy Cup the US team had choreographed a new combo event in its entirety and had practiced it. “The combo was really fresh and we had really good choreography,” Abel said. “It was a really good routine that no one had seen before. It was different.”

In the Japanese competition the judging was primarily on technical aspects, but in the FINA World Trophy Cup the swimmers were allowed to show artistic abilities. “We had a really artistic program and that’s what helped us,” Abel said.

Judges Zhanna Demchenko, Inger Lindholm, and Christiane Brenner gave the US team scores of 9.6, 9.9, and 9.8 to comprise the 96.667 score based on the average of the individual judges. “We hadn’t got a 9.9 in like ten years,” Abel said.

Russia received scores of 9.9, 9.4, and 9.9. “We still beat them even though we only got one 9.9,” Abel said.

Spain was the only other team not to have a score lower than 9.6; the Spaniards had a 9.8 and two marks of 9.6.

“It was refreshing to know that we can beat them,” Abel said of the gold medal.

“It was just a new experience for me,” Abel said. “I got to be on the best team this year.”

Abel had previously traveled to Moscow in 2004 with the Junior National Team and was part of the team which earned a gold medal in Moscow that year. She was first selected to the Junior National Team in 2003, when she was 15. In November 2004 Abel was selected to the US National Team, becoming the youngest member of the National Team at the time. Abel, who turns 19 in February, is still the youngest member of the National Team which currently ranges in age from 26 to 18. At one time Abel was on both the US National Team and the Junior National Team, but earlier this year a schedule conflict led to US Synchronized Swimming dropping her from the Junior National Team so that she could focus on the US National Team activities.

The Abel family was living in Northridge when she began her synchronized swimming career. Her family came across a sign-up sheet for a synchronized swimming program at a local park pool in Northridge, and Abel began her synchronized swimming career with the park program in 1998. In 1999 she joined the Riverside Aquettes, eventually moving up to the club’s top team.

Abel was born in a Van Nuys hospital, but the family lived in Northridge at the time and remained in Northridge until moving to Fallbrook in November 2004. Ironically, the Abel family does not have a swimming pool at their Fallbrook home. Abel was homeschooled through the Gorman Learning Center and graduated from high school in May 2006.

In December Abel will travel to Ohio State University to try out for the US team which will compete in the 2007 World Championship. A total of 27 synchronized swimmers were invited to Columbus to compete for the 12 berths at the World Championship in March. Those twelve will be reduced to nine for the 2007 Pan-American Games and the 2008 Olympic Games.