Courtesy: Ohio State Athletics
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State synchronized swimming team kicks off its 2022 campaign with the Zero Waste Invitational on Sunday, Jan. 16. The Buckeyes welcome Michigan for the invitational that begins with technical competition at 11 a.m. and routine competition starting at 2 p.m.
Zero Waste Initiative
This weekend’s season-opener marks the fifth Zero Waste Invitational hosted by the Buckeyes. The team adopted the effort in 2017 to support the university’s goal of achieving zero waste by 2025. Since the team has joined this initiative, synchronized swimming competitions hosted at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion have diverted, on average, 71.84% of all waste from landfills through recycling and composting. Overall, the team’s events have recycled nearly 700 pounds and composted over 1,200 pounds of waste.
2021 Look Back
The Buckeyes finished second at the 2021 U.S. Collegiate Championships with an overall score of 86 points. The Buckeyes took silver with their team routine performance and a score of 81.0000. Graduate Laila Huric was runner-up in the solo routine with a score of 80.8000. The Ohio State trio of Camryn Carrasco, Rose Homoelle and Rachel Jager and duet of Paige Hopper and Huric earned third-place finishes. Huric was named one of three Collegiate Athletes of the Year by USA Artistic Swimming.
2022 Buckeyes
The Buckeyes’ 2022 roster returns 2021 U.S. Collegiate All-Americans Carrasco, Homoelle, Hopper, Huric and Jager. In addition to the returners, Ohio State welcomes freshmen Emily Armstrong, Marian Catahan, Hannah Heffernan and Ruby Remati.
Remati and Armstrong join the Buckeye roster after being named to their respective countries’ 2020 Olympic rosters. Remati served as an alternate for the Team USA duet after helping qualify the team for the Tokyo games at the FINA Olympic Games Artistic Swimming Qualification Tournament. Armstrong competed for Team Canada in Tokyo, helping the team to a sixth-place finish in the team routine.
Senior Nikki Dzurko returns to the roster after training last year with the Team USA Artistic Swimming senior national team. She earned bronze in the technical solo at the 2021 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series Super Final in Barcelona and took gold in the U.S. leg of the USA vs. Canada World series.