The first day of the inaugural leg of the FINA Synchronised Swimming World Series, taking place in Paris (FRA) from March 10-12, 2017 was firstly highlighted by the solo free final. Sixteen athletes contested this event and the gold went to Ukraine’s Anna Voloshyna, winner in 91.1267. Yukiko Inui (JPN, 90.4774) earned silver, while Jacqueline Simoneau (CAN, 88.8201) had to content for bronze.
“I felt very well in the water. The ‘Make Up For Ever’ event is my first competition of the year and I am quite satisfied with my performance”, considered Voloshyna. “I love France and this event. The hospitality is excellent and the organisation is of a very high level. It’s the fourth time that I take part in this event and it’s always a pleasure for me to come back”, concluded the Ukrainian swimmer.
Thirty-four duets (including three mixed duets) then contested the event preliminaries, in front of an enthusiastic crowd. China qualified three duets for Sunday’s final. The provisional lead went to Wen Wen Jiang and Ting Ting Jiang, with 92.6000, in front of their teammates Xiaolu Li and Wenyan Sun, in 91.5333, and of Japan’s Kanami Nakamaki and Yukiko Inui (91.3667). Three French duets also got their place in the final, and will be accompanied by the pairs of Ukraine, Italy, Austria, USA and Belarus. The mixed duet event was won by Manila Flamini/Giorgio Minisini (ITA, 86.8667), followed by Japan (Atsushi Abe/Yumi Adachi, 86.5000) and by Germany (Amélie Ebert/Niklas Stoepel, 70.0667).
Italy
The team’s technical final confirmed the excellent shape of the Japanese athletes: victory in 91.9006, better than Ukraine (silver in 89.4177) and China (bronze in 86.7723).