The 3rd World Aquatics Youth Artistic Swimming World Championships continued today at the Kypros pool in Athens, Greece, the host city of both the ancient and the first modern-day Olympic Games.
The four medal events contested thus far have yielded four different gold medalists and seven different countries have made a trip to the podium.
At last year's World Aquatics Artistic Swimming Youth Championships in Charlotte (North Carolina, USA) today’s gold medalists, Japan and France were the two most successful countries, with Japan winning five gold and France two.
Solo Women Free Final
The Women’s Free Solo final was another great example of the effects of the new scoring system, and its ability to provide an opportunity for all participants to make it to the finals and onto the podium. No longer are the results predictable or expected.
France’s Romane Temessek brought her A-game and performed her choreography “Feeling Good” perfectly. Temessek’s artistic impression score was lower than those of the silver and bronze medalists, but she was the only athlete in the field today with an executed difficulty higher than 30.
The routine score of 179.3396 points combined with her very solid figures score gave Temessek a total of 261.6123 points, winning the first gold medal for France in Athens.
USA’s third medal in Athens, a silver, was claimed by Kanako Field for her presentation on the song “They don’t care about us” by David Garrett. Regardless of Field received only 21.30 points for difficulty, compared to 25.6 in the preliminary round, her first-place ranking in the Figure competition, provided the points to finish in second place with 249.5852 points.
Japan’s Nao Shirahase overcame the seven-point deficit from the Figures competition by swimming a strong routine, that scored 171.8292 points. Nao’s swim was almost flawless and scored 23.95 points for difficulty, while her gracious yet powerful movements combined with expert use of the music throughout her routine was awarded 83.8 points for artistic impression. Shirahase total score, 247.4656 points, was good for the bronze medal, Japan’s first medal in Athens.
Mixed Team Free Final
The gold medal was awarded to the Combo routine performed by Japan with 242.4022 points total, more than twelve points ahead of the rest of the field. The Japanese were able to perfectly execute their declared difficulty of 36.20 to secure the top of the podium and bring Japan its first gold medal in Athens.
Cheered on by the crowd, the hometown favorites Team Greece swam their “Gears” themed routine to the song “Volante” by James Norman. The total score of 229.7063 points earned them the silver medal, the first medal ever for Greece at a Youth World Championship.
The Spaniard Combo team showcased their choreography which was swum to the classic rock song ” Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin in gorgeous emerald-green bathing suits. Spain claimed the bronze medal with a total of 228.4660 points.
WHAT'S UP NEXT?
Follow the final day of competition featuring three finals and the fun Gala in Athens, Greece by visiting the World Aquatics website for all results or watch it live. The schedule is as follows (all times shown in EET)
Sunday, 3 September
- 9:30 Duet Free Final
- 18:30 Team Free Final
- 20:00 Team Acrobatic