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.

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