The Lindenwood University synchronized swimming team closed out its 2010-2011 season on a strong note last weekend, finishing third overall at the U.S. National Championships in front of a packed house at Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Center.

A year ago, the Lady Lions scouted the competition at Nationals, competing only in the preliminary free routine events on day one of competition. Lindenwood finished eighth in team, 10th and 13th in duet, and 11th in solo prelims in 2010. One year later, the Lady Lions improved to fourth and fifth overall in the team event, seventh and ninth in duet, and sixth in solo. And in a repeat of their finish at the U.S. Collegiates, the Lady Lions' team topped Ohio State's gray squad, silencing the crowd in the final two swims of the meet.

“We tested the waters last year, and decided then that we would come to Nationals in 2010 with the goal to make finals in every event,” head coach Lori Eaton said. “We had some amazing swims and reaffirmed to the synchro nation that our third-year program is now a national contender.”

At the U.S. Nationals, the combined score of each entry's preliminary free routine and technical routine determine the eight finalists in each event. In the final, the preliminary free routine score is replaced with a final free routine score, and added to the technical routine score to determine the champions. Thus, technical routines, because they are only swum one time but count for half the final score, are a very important piece of the puzzle.

Lindenwood's “Australia” team built on its success at the U.S. Collegiate Championships by topping Ohio State's gray squad by a full point in the team free routine final - 86.6625 to 84.6125, and finishing short of a bronze medal by just 0.050. Lindenwood's “China” team followed with a strong free final routine to take fifth overall.

“U.S. Nationals are a challenge for every college program because they require technical routines,” Eaton said. “We only have three weeks to write and work on these routines, and one of those weeks is Spring Break. So for us to be competitive in our first Nationals swimming tech routines was a real plus for our program.”

Swimming Lindenwood's "Australia" routine were Victoria Burdon, Beth Burton, Anouk Eman, Mikayla Francese, Clarissa Johnston, Jessica Webb, Amanda Mendez, and Reem Abdalazem. Lindenwood's "China" routine was performed by Abigail Andresen, Federica Bertolini, Julia Birkelo, Rachel McWhorter, Simona Placha, Brynn Sebring, Stewart Shoemaker, and Carmen Salazar.

Despite the disadvantages going in, freshman Reem Abdalazem started off the week on a positive note, finishing eighth in the solo prelim and moving up to sixth in the technical routine event with a 166.0625.

“Reem's technical routine on Friday was amazing, and showed the charm and personality that makes her an elite soloist,” said Eaton.

Meanwhile, Lindenwood's duets of Mikayla Francese and Anouk Eman, and Victoria Burdon and Beth Burton, kept the duet competition close. The pairs finished eighth and ninth respectively in the duet preliminary event on Thursday. A day later, Eman teamed with Abdalazem to finish fourth in the duet technical event, securing their berth in the final. Francese and Eman held on for a sixth-place finish with a final mark of 164.475.

“Duet is one of the most competitive events at Nationals,” Eaton said. “Again, I was surprised that in the technical routines, despite training for just 10 practices, we were able to finish fourth. That really helped with our final placement.”

Ohio State won the overall high point trophy, followed by the Walnut Creek (Calif.) Aquanuts, and Lindenwood in third.

With the season over, several Lady Lions will now compete for National Team berths in their home countries. Abdalazem returns to Egypt next week to compete for a spot on the Egyptian National Team. Eman will try for a spot on the National Team of Aruba to compete in the Pan American Games. Salazar will spend May writing a solo routine to swim in the National Championships of her home country, Venezuela. The Lady Lions return 100 percent of their program in 2011-2012.