After years of training and competing at a myriad of national and international events, all the hard work and dedication has paid off for Claire Scheffel with a trip to the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France as part of Canada’s Artistic Swim Team.
However, the last year has been an intense one, as Scheffel and her teammates competed at various events leading up to the Olympics, including the Pan American Games in 2023.
“We were hoping to qualify there, but both the US and Mexico have very strong teams [and so] we ended up having to go on to the World Championship qualification,” Scheffel said. “After the Pan-Am Games, we were motivated and ready to up our routines and get our team to a place where we could qualify for the games while at the World Aquatics Championships (in 2024, Doha, Qatar.) It was a very challenging couple of months, putting our team together. Luckily, from the 2023 Pan-Am Games in Santiago, Chile to the World Aquatics Championships in Qatar, where it was our second qualifier, we were able to take 12 members…and I think we were in the best position that we could have been to qualify for the Olympics.”
Scheffel further explained that the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar was one of the most daunting times in her competitive career.
“I would say, it was one of the most stressful events of my whole entire life. We were really close with a couple of countries [and] we ended up competing six times in total in three different events. There’s a preliminary and a final for each event [and] they combined every score from the final [tallies] of each event [in order] to pick the top five countries that would qualify to go to the Olympics. Going in, we were sitting right on that line. We knew that we had to hit everything, to be able to get that spot in the Olympic Games,” Scheffel said. “There was a lot going into the competition… focusing on ourselves and our connection and being the best that we could be [especially] with all of the stress that was put on us at that moment. I was very grateful because I have amazing teammates and a great support staff that did their best to take away that pressure so that we could really go up there and perform.”
Scheffel described what it was like waiting for the results at the World Aquatics Championships, which determined if the Canadian team was going to make it to the Olympics.
“We competed in our last event [there] which was going to determine if we were going or not. And the two countries that we were competing against were both performing after us. While the competition was going on in one pool, we’re sitting in the warm-up pool [and] we were all awaiting the results,” Scheffel recalled. “Some of us were pacing, some were sitting down and others were crying, but we stuck together for that half hour where we weren’t sure we were going to go or not. It was really special to have that group and be so connected. Finally, when the scores showed up on the board…we realized that we had made it.”
Nevertheless, success has come because of how the team has meshed so well, especially in the face of some major changes.
“Over the past couple of years, we have been through many things; with our recent coaching change and moving pools three times,” Scheffel noted. “In that time, we’ve been able to gain this really special bond with each other…we are very unique in that we get along and spend time with each other outside [the pool] and I think that’s really helped us feel comfortable and stable in our training environment…it [also has] helped us succeed during competitions.”
Scheffel also spoke about their new coach, which has helped re-energize the team.
“We have a new coach who is Anna Voloshyna…she was our assistant coach’s [Yelyzaveta Yakhno] duet partner [when they] both competed in the Olympic Games for Ukraine. We have really connected with them [which] has helped us be even more inspired and excited for the Games because they’ve been able to share some of their memories [and to] motivate us,” noted Scheffel.
Scheffel and her team also had to deal with some changes with the scoring system across events, which made the competitions more exciting.
“There’s been a lot of changes to…the scoring system [which has made it] exciting because the results have been very up in the air. In the past, the ranks of countries have been set just based on the rules and scoring system that there was in place previously. Now with this new scoring, it’s been very exciting because no one knows where they’re going to be in the ranks, when they go to compete,” Scheffel explained. “But we’ve stepped up our difficulty on our marks quite a bit. So far, we actually held the world record in every event for the most difficult scores for our routine. As well, we have been just cleaning up our routines and bringing that power and artistic impression that Canada is known for our facial expressions, our sharpness, everything like that [and] we’re really trying to prove that we’re a powerful team and we can be up there with everyone else.”
However, Scheffel has maintained a humbled approach to her career and taking one step at time has led her to a shot at gold.
“Throughout my athletic career, I’ve always tried to stay in the moment while having the main goal in the background [of] going to the Olympics. I’ve seen my father get very close [during] his swimming career to going to the Games…but I’ve tried to keep myself grounded and…being able to improve [and] being able to mesh together with the girls.,” Scheffel stated. “Overall, I’ve had that main goal of the Olympics, but it’s taken a lot of stepping stones to finally reach it.”
