With the Yukon championships behind them, the Northern Novas synchronized swimmers are now focused on the national qualifying event in Calgary next month.

Head coach Aura-Lea Harper said Sunday’s championships actually marks the beginning of the competitive season for the swimmers.

The Novas will be sending seven swimmers to Calgary, with one soloist and two duet teams who’ll also join two other swimmers to compete in the team competition.

In Sunday’s championships, Camron Maguire was the only soloist for the figures competition in the 16 to 18 age category. He’ll be representing the territory in Calgary.

In the 13-15 category, Ella Laliberty finished the championships in first. Sara King was second and Helene Maguire was third.

Mia Houde took home first-place honours in the 11-12 class, with Mia Maguire finishing second and Hanna Wallace third.

In the under-10 category, Madison Andrews finished in first place, Layla Hombert was second and Owyn Cote was third.

Harper said one of the challenges they face as the team prepares for the national qualifying event is they’re unable to secure the whole pool but rather are restricted to four lanes for practices.

They’ll have to use the whole pool in Calgary and it will be an additional challenge physically but the swimmers have also enrolled in a dry land training and stretching program to help compensate, she pointed out.

The head coach said the additional training with the city’s aerobic instructors is helping.

“I have seen a great improvement.”

She said they’ve finished choreographing the swim for the six swimmers who’ll compete in the team competition and they’re working on the routines for the two duets.

The championships on Sunday provided an opportunity to get additional feedback from the local judges, feedback on what they want to see more of or what aspect of a performance a particular swimmer needs to work on, she said.