Swimmer Helen Zhou of Westford Made to Team USA

By Justine Wang, bostonese.com

Boston, March 15, 2014, — Helen Zhou of Westford, Mass. was recently named to 2014 U.S. 12 and Under National squad by USA Synchro following selection trials in Pleasant Hills, Calif. Eleven-year-old Helen Zhou is a 7th grader at Westford Stony Brook middle school.

Helen with her coach Svetlana Malinovskaya, who was recently named 13-15 National Team Coach (photos provided by Yuhong Yin).

"I was confident that I could make to the top 30, but was a bit surprised that I made to the top 20, and finished at 11th place." said Helen. She was very excited to know that she would be getting opportunity to be trained with other girls in the Squad by National Team coaches. Helen Zhou has been practicing synchronized swimming for four years. In June 2013, she made to the East Zone All Star team, and her team won the first place in East Zone Championship competition. Besides swimming, Helen also loves to play violin, and has played with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and Nashoba Youth Orchestras (NYO). She also studies Chinese at Chelmsford Chinese Language School on Friday nights. Helen's club will have an annual synchronized swimming show on March 22. Please see the poster below for details. [gallery ids="25878,25877,25876"] Besides various activities, Helen Zhou excels academically in school. She is recipient of President's Academic Excellence award, and the 2012 and 2014 school GeoBee. Helen was awarded with AMC 8 "honor roll". Helen loves reading, traveling and playing games. Her parents are very proud of Helen, and have been very supportive. "We will help her manage her time as she will be traveling a lot with the national team for training and completion. We will try our best to support her," said Ms. Yuhong Yin, mother of Helen Zhou. The swimmers earning a spot on the 2014 U.S. 12 and Under National Squad are:

• Sarah Cao (Plymouth, Minn./Minnesota Synchronettes)
• Chesnie Cheung (Palo Alto, Calif./Santa Clara Aquamaids)
• Yara Elian (Walnut Creek, Calif./Walnut Creek Aquanuts)
• Nicole Goot (Palo Alto, Calif./Santa Clara Aquamaids)
• Hannah Heffernan (Las Vegas, Nev./Nevada Desert Dolphins)
• Kaitlyn Hoang (San Jose, Calif./Santa Clara Aquamaids)
• Bianca Hofstatter (Los Angeles, Calif./Riverside Aquettes)
• Sophia Kong (Moraga, Calif./Walnut Creek Aquanuts)
• Ashley Latchford (Buffalo, N.Y./ Buffalo Swimkins)
• Sophia Lim (Yorba Linda, Calif./La Mirada Aquabelles)
• Nicole Meza (Sacramento, Calif./Sacramento Synchro)
• Viktoria Mills (Las Vegas, Nev./Nevada Desert Dolphins)
• Veronika Orlovska (Yorba Linda, Calif./La Mirada Aquabelles)
• Gabriela Ospina (Coarl Springs, Fla./Coral Springs Aquacades)
• Ruby Remati (Boston, Mass./ANA Synchro)
• Aspen Smith (Phoenix, Ariz./Arizona Desert Dolphins)
• Noelle Song (Sacramento, Calif./Sacramento Synchro)
• Sophia Tong (Palo Alto, Calif./Santa Clara Aquamaids)
• Katherine Wrightsman (Los Angeles, Calif./Riverside Aquettes)
• Helen Zhou (Westford, Mass./Optima Synchro)