Two Missouri athletes, junior swimmer Dominique Bouchard and sophomore diver Loren Figueroa, represented their respective countries at the World University Games, held Aug. 12 through 23 in Shenzhen, China.
Bouchard competed for Canada in the 200-meter backstroke, reaching the finals in the event and placing fifth with a time of 2:11.59. She also took eighth in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 1:01.74 and was part of the sixth-place 4×100 medley relay.
“I was not very happy with my swims,” Bouchard said. “The (events) I was doing were toward the end of the meet, so I had to wait four days before actually competing. I did some things in the race that are reinforcing things I did prior to this summer, so it’s a confidence booster to know that I can do bits and parts of the total package I want when I get to Olympic trials.”
Bouchard was the gold medalist in both the 100 and 200-meter backstroke at the last Canadian national championships, and is hoping to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Her 200-meter backstroke time of 2:10.39 at the CAN World Trials this past March is the 29th fastest time in the world in that event.
As a sophomore at MU, Bouchard finished second at the NCAA championships in the 200-yard backstroke, breaking school and Big 12 records in the process.
Competing in the first year she was eligible, Figueroa finished sixth in the 1-meter dive with a score of 277.
“(The experience) was really exciting,” Figueroa said. “I was really happy to final, and moving up from eighth to sixth place was really cool. (My finish) makes me feel really good because I’m coming off an injury, so I hadn’t really been training when I competed in China. I’m really excited to start training this year and be able to work out harder now that I’m getting better.”
The injury Figueroa suffered was a hyperextended knee with torn cartilage, an injury she was diagnosed with during NCAA qualifying and didn’t undergo surgery for until after the championships. Even with that affliction, she placed second in the 1-meter diving event at the NCAAs and set a new team record with a score of 355.3 points.
The experience of the Games left an impression on both athletes.
“The thing I took away (from the Games) the most is that athletes are just normal people,” Bouchard said. “Just because one person is a world record holder doesn’t mean they’re different from you, and they’re training just as hard. (I saw that) I can be at that level, and I’ll be able to compete with the top girls in the world.”
Figueroa said the experience was like a mini-Olympics for college.
“It was probably the greatest experience of my life,” Figueroa said. “They mimicked everything to be like the Olympics, with an opening and closing ceremony and podium for the top three. It was really motivating and made me want to push myself harder.”
