BCN2013 – FINA Newsletter #7 (66)

 

The Russians extended their unbeaten streak in synchronised swimming at World Championships, clinching the team free title with a total 97.400 at Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi this evening. The synchro powerhouse staged a dramatic performance, unveiling a brand-new free programme, which incorporated intricate legwork of unmatched precision and sky-high lifts fully mastered.

Team Russia celebrated their 15-year reign in this event, totalling a record eight successive crowns. The brilliant score was reflective of the extraordinary style and athleticism that was on display by the eight Russian swimmers.

Spain’s excellent performance set to the theme of "Samsara", which means "continuous flow" or reincarnation in Tibetan, earned a total 94.230 points. In their glittering red swimsuits, the local squad presented a new artistic programme, which combined movements of great difficulty, and thrilled the home crowd with spectacular throws. With this silver, the home team bags their sixth medal at these World Championships (2 silver and 4 bronze).

 

 

Chong He won the men’s 3m springboard crown for the third time in succession, storming through to scatter his rivals and bring China their seventh diving title out of eight so far contested at these FINA World Championships. He looked vulnerable for a while, with a slight blip in the third of the six rounds of dives, but bounced back magnificently to win by more than 36 points after team-mate and 2007 champion Kai Qin had blown his title hopes with a nightmare dive in the third round. Russia’s Evgeny Kuznetsov looked as though he might deny the Chinese, just as fellow Russian Ilya Zakharov had done at the 2012 London Olympics. But He had other ideas, with two mighty dives at the end which brought him victory with 544.95 points. Kuznetsov claimed the silver (508.00) and Yahel Castillo gave Mexico their third diving bronze of the championships (498.30).Qin had to settle for fifth (473.25), behind Ukraine’s Illya Kvasha (494.10), the 1m silver medallist in Barcelona. 

Zakharov, who relegated Qin and He to silver and bronze at the London Olympics, failed to qualify for the final after finishing 14th in the semi-final at the Montjuic Municipal Pool. Qin and He, who won the 10m synchro crown ahead of Kuznetsov and Zakharov earlier in the week, have now between them won the world 3m individual crown four times in succession, with He’s treble matching the three golds won in the 3m springboard by Phil Boggs of the USA at the first three world championship editions in 1973, 1978 and 1982.

 

 

The team with the highest winning record in Championship history was denied victory in its 100th match on the third day of the FINA Men’s Water Polo World Championships at the Bernat Picornell Pool.

It was the end of the group stage and Hungary was fighting Australia for second in Group C. It was the closest match of the championship with four tied periods and a man called Richard Campbell denying Hungary what was rightfully its to take.

However, by coincidence, it was also Australia’s 100th match at World Championship level and a draw with the country that has won more Olympic gold medals than anyone else (9), would have been unheard of some years ago. Under the coaching of Croatia Olympic champion assistant coach Elvis Fatovic, the Aussie Sharks took the lead at 3-2, 4-3 and 5-4 and then later levelled at 7-7, 8-8 and 9-9. Campbell featured with five of those goals, including his fifth from the 10m line!
Hungarian head coach Tibor Benedek was happy with the draw that needed delving into the rule book and shovel down to the fourth tie-break rule to find out who gains second place. Serbia won the group with a 16-9 defeat of China.

In Group A, the main match was the group decider between Spain and Greece — the last match of the day. Spain disappointed the near-capacity crowd when bowing 8-7 after playing catch-up water polo for three-quarters of the match. Montenegro had earlier beaten New Zealand for four points and what turned out to be second place.

In Group B action, Croatia topped the quartet with an 18-0 romp over South Africa who had a goal disallowed in the final six seconds. United States of America had the better of Canada for second place, winning 8-7.

Italy swam away with Group D in defeating Kazakhstan 12-6 and Germany battled to a 9-8 thriller over winless Romania.

Final points:

 

Group A: GRE 6, MNE 4, ESP 2, NZL 0.
Group B: CRO 6, USA 4, CAN 2, RSA 0.
Group C: SRB 6, HUN 3, AUS 3, CHN 0.
Group D: ITA 6, GER 4, KAZ 2, ROU 0.

 

Sunday, July 28 (times to be decided):

GREvRSA
MNEvCAN
CROvNZL
USAvESP
SRBvROU
HUNvKAZ
ITAvCHN
GERvAUS