Sylvie Fréchette, (born 27 June 1967 in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

) is a Canadian former synchronised swimmer. She is the 1992 Olympic champion in the women's solo event.

Career

Fréchette competed in the women's solo at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

. In the technical figures routine, a Brazilian judge accidentally entered a score of 8.7 instead of 9.7, costing her first place; after several appeals by the

Canadian Olympic Committee The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC; ), also known as Team Canada, is a private nonprofit organization that represents Canada at the International Olympic Committee. It is also a member of the Pan American Sports Organization. History Cana ...

, her medal was upgraded to gold.

Kristen Babb-Sprague Kristen Elizabeth Babb, (born July 29, 1968) also known by her married name Kristen Elizabeth Babb-Sprague after February 1991, is an American former synchronized swimmer who competed for the Walnut Creek Aquanuts and was a 1992 Barcelona Olympi ...

, the beneficiary of the judge's error, was allowed to keep her gold medal. Fréchette's success in the pool continued with a silver medal in the women's team event at the following Olympics. In 1999, she was inducted into

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...

. She has also contributed as a swimmer, designer, and coach to the synchronized-swimming portions of

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...

's water-based stage production '' O'', which opened in 1998 at the Bellagio hotel and casino in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. In 2006, Fréchette became an ambassador for

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

. Fréchette ran for the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

in the

2019 Canadian federal election The 2019 Canadian federal election was held on October 21, 2019. Members of the House of Commons were elected to the 43rd Canadian Parliament. In keeping with the maximum four-year term under a 2007 amendment to the ''Canada Elections Act'', ...

, as the party's candidate in the Quebec riding of Rivière-du-Nord. She came in third and, after the election, ascribed her loss to party leader

Andrew Scheer Andrew James Scheer (born May 20, 1979) is a Canadian politician who is the Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada), leader of the Opposition since 2025 and previously from 2017 to 2020 as Leader of the Conservative Party (Canada), leader of ...

's inability to take a stance on

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

Personal life

Sylvie Frechette was engaged to her business partner Sylvain Lake, who committed suicide a week before the 1992 Games. Lake was a television track analyst and former 400 m track athlete.

Electoral record

References

External links

* *
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frechette, Sylvie 1967 births Canadian sportsperson-politicians Canadian synchronized swimmers Cirque du Soleil performers Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games gold medallists in synchronised swimming Living people Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic medalists in synchronized swimming Olympic silver medalists for Canada Olympic synchronized swimmers for Canada Pan American Games silver medalists in synchronized swimming Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Recipients of the Meritorious Service Decoration Synchronised swimmers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Synchronized swimmers at the 1986 World Aquatics Championships Synchronized swimmers at the 1987 Pan American Games Synchronised swimmers at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Synchronized swimmers at the 1991 World Aquatics Championships Synchronized swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Synchronized swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Montreal World Aquatics Championships medalists in synchronised swimming 20th-century Canadian sportswomen

Career

Personal life

Electoral record

See also

References

External links