Alisa Ozhogina, a Russian born in Moscow and a lifelong Spaniard from Seville, opened the surface like lightning. Her white and slender figure, her legs breaking through the water with vigor, rising to her waist, set the tone for the routine of the technical duo who swam with the Catalan Iris Tió, both dressed in a gold swimsuit to the sound of beat it, the hard rock classic made popular by Michael Jackson. The bronze they achieved this Monday in the technical duo final of the Swimming World Cups in Doha, was like the nail that secures the rope on the mountain. One more support point on the long path that the Spanish artistic swimming team is traveling towards the Paris Games, and, incidentally, on the path to the excellence lost after reaching the summit in London 2012.
“We are super happy because we have maintained our third place in the 2023 World Cup,” said Alisa; “Now our most important objective is to increase the difficulty of all the routines and do it without risk, do it well. Punchy. The song motivates us a lot. The song says it: Beat it!. Fight for your goals. “That's how we Spanish people are!”
From the Fukuoka bronze to the bronze of Qatar, seven months later. Synchronized swimming does not evolve that quickly. Jumping steps usually takes years, especially ascending. China, which has remained close to the top for a decade, took advantage of the absence of Russia, punished by the war in Ukraine, to capture gold in a tournament whose first incentive is Olympic qualification. Spain, due to having a good duo, will not secure a place in the Paris Games until it closes the circle of team competitions, in the final of the free routine scheduled for Friday.
With men's and mixed synchronized swimming in the background, and solos relegated to a third category, strategies focus on fine-tuning those events that lead to Olympic gold: duo routines and, above all, team exercises. There are three world team events: acrobatic, technical and free. Each is awarded a gold medal over the course of three specific finals. Each final scores a maximum of 33.3% in the overall score assigned in the classification for the Games. Spain began the contest on Saturday, and saved a fifth place finish in the acrobatics routine. There remains the technical final, this Wednesday, and the free final, on Friday. If at the end of the World Cup the Spanish team secure a place among the five best teams, they will not only guarantee their presence in Paris but will automatically qualify the duo.
China, already in Paris
China, Ukraine, the United States, Canada, Spain, Italy and Japan ranked from first to last after the team acrobatics final last weekend. This Monday the Spanish women swam the team technical preliminary. China was first with 304 points, Japan second with 282, and Spain third with 278, followed closely by the United States, with 273. Considering that there are five Olympic places available, and that China is already classified by occupying the highest Asian ranking, the end of Wednesday could mean a definitive step towards Paris.
In the distant English summer of 2012, the Spanish swimmers, led by Ana Tarrés – later an advisor to China, Ukraine, Greece and Israel – beat China in the Olympic team and duo finals. Now the Chinese are hegemonic. The Wang twins duo achieved gold this Monday. Silver went to the surprising Isabelle Thorpe and Kate Shortman, the duo from Great Britain, who are competing in Doha without a team.
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