Pan Am Athletes Share their Competition Beauty Secrets

They perform in front of thousands of spectators and the camera captures every triumphant or heartbreaking moment. So, how do Canada’s top female Pan Am athletes manage to look calm and cool under such intense pressure? Here are their pre-competition beauty rituals

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Jennifer Abel, 23, Diving (3m and 3m Synchro)

“I’ve worn a bathing cap for the past couple of years and I can see a big difference in my hair. Now it grows quicker and looks nicer,” she told Best Health in an interview that appears in our current issue. “Chlorine is horrible for your skin. It makes it really dry and irritable. The best thing you can do is to moisturize often with a thick cream,” she says.

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Brianne Theisen-Eaton, 26, Heptathlon

“Normally I wear my hair in a ponytail. High jump is frustrating because I’ll have just gotten my hair looking nice and then I high jump and my ponytail gets all pushed to the side,” laughs Theisen-Eaton, who’s recently been named an ambassador to the P&G Thank You Mom campaign. “I’ll also put some mascara on and lip gloss and a moisturizer with sunscreen in it,” she says.

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Kia Nurse, 19, Basketball

“I always wear my hair in a bun,” says Nurse of her signature hairstyle. It’s not only practical, but it’s become a bit of a superstition now: “I tried a ponytail earlier this year and it wasn’t a good game for me statistically. So now I’m back to the bun.”

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Hilary Caldwell, 24, Swimming (200m Backstroke)

The swimmer is known to always have a bright, sparkly manicure before competing.

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Meaghan Benfeito, 26, Diving (10m and 10m Synchro)

“I started diving with a bathing cap last year, which really helps keep my hair healthier and less tangled,” Benfeito told Best Health‘s Jannen Belbeck in a recent interview.

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