ASWS, Paris, Day 2: Ukraine shines in Solo; France gets gold in team Tech

The teams of Ukraine, Spain and France displayed solid performances to earn gold in the second day of the initial leg of the 2020 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series, taking place in Paris (FRA), from March 6-8. In the two Solo finals of the day, Ukraine prevailed, while the Spanish pair controlled operations in the Mixed Duet routines and France got its first title at home, in the Team Technical presentation.

After dominating the inaugural day in the French capital, the Ukrainian delegation was again in evidence this Saturday, with Marta Fiedina getting the gold in the Solo Technical final in 89.6571. She was well above her main contenders, with the minor medals going to US Ruby Remati (silver in 79.8813) and to Germany’s Marlene Bojer (bronze in 79.6294). In the Solo Free final, Fiedina was once more the strongest of the field, with a total of 91.8000 for the gold. USA was again second, this time with Anita Alvarez (86.1333). Lara Mechnig, from Liechtenstein, completed the podium, in third, with 82.4667 points.

In the Mixed Duet events, the participation only included two national teams, Spain and France. In both cases, the Iberians were stronger, with Emma Garcia/Pau Ribes totalling 82.8147 in the Technical routine and 85.4333 in the Free final. The French pair Madeline Philippe/Quentin Rakotomalala finished second on both occasions, scoring 72.0468 and 75.3000, respectively.

Finally, in the last final of the day, the Team Technical, the French representatives gave a fair reward to their enthusiastic fans in the Georges Vallerey pool, by earning the first gold at home. Thanks to an appealing and exciting presentation, the locals accumulated 86.3274 points from the judges, leaving two teams of United States with the silver (83.3925) and bronze (76.1558). According to the rules of the competition, if a nation enters several teams in the same event, only the highest score counts for the ranking of the Series. Therefore, the third country of the ranking was Israel, in 76.0566.

The Paris leg of the 2020 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series concludes this Sunday, with the last three finals on the programme: Highlight Routine, Free Combination and Team Free.