The second day of the “Make Up For Ever” Open, the inaugural leg of the 2017 FINA Synchronised Swimming World Series, taking place in Paris (FRA) from March 10-12, was highlighted by four events: solo free, duet technical, duet technical mixed and free combination. Winner of the solo technical final on Day 1, Ukraine’s Anna Voloshyna, was once more the leader of the preliminaries in the solo free and is the athlete to watch for this Sunday final. Japan’s Yukiko Inui and Canada’s Jacqueline Simoneau, trained by three-time world champion Virginie Dedieu (FRA), were respectively second and third of the heats. The best French in action was 16-year-old Eve Planeix, fifth.
In the afternoon, 28 duets contested the final of the duet technical event. The victory went for the Chinese pair formed by Jiang Wen Wen and Jiang Ting Ting. The silver medal went for Japan (Yukiko Inui and Mai Nakamura), while Ukraine (Anna Voloshyna/Anastasiya Savchuk) earned bronze. As in the previous day, the duet technical mixed was won by the Italian pair Manila Flamini and Giorgio Minisini, in front of Japan and Germany.
The Chinese success continued in the free combination final. The gold went to an inspired Japanese squad (excellent from a technical point of view), but the swimmers from China earned silver. In front of their public, France won their first medal of the competition, finishing third. Performing under the theme “Paris”, the local squad was cherished by the crowd and concluded its routine under enthusiastic applauses.
“We have made a great result and I am very proud of this team. We have a group that is very solid and united and this medal is a very good appetizer for the World Championships, this summer in Budapest”, considered the French captain Marie Annequin.