Pecking Order Again Plays Out in Synchronized Swimming Preliminaries

By M. Duncan Scott

ATHENS, Greece, August 27. RUSSIA qualified first in a preliminary round that had an eerily familiar feel after the Duet competition.

In Duet, after the Technical Routine preliminaries, after the Free Routine preliminaries and after the Free Routine Final, the top four in order were Russia, Japan, United States and Spain. The judges may as well have used the same scorecards and saved a few trees when it came time for the Technical section of the Team Event.

Russia, Japan, United States and Spain, in that order.

Athens event organizers report that Russia continued its dominance in Synchronized Swimming with another almost faultless performance in the Technical section of the Team Event. A spectacular lift by the Russian team in the acrobatic move was followed by a beautifully controlled ballet leg sequence and a fast cadence action to finish. The team's quick movements and excellent synchronicity was recognised by the judges who awarded three perfect 10s for Overall Impression to give an overall score of 49.667.

Japan delighted the judges and audience from its exciting dive and acrobatic move through to its impressive cadence finale. With a score of 49.167, Japan is the biggest threat to the Russians.

Spain, which scored 48.167 with its flamenco-influenced performance, and the United States with 48.584, are the teams most likely to battle for third.

The Free section to decide the overall Team medals will be held Friday at 19:30.

Results

Synchronized Swimming Pool – THU 26 AUG 2004 – Start Time: 19:30

Rank NOC Name Judges Req. Pen. Total Pen. 100% Points Technical Routine
J1 J2 J3 J4 J5 50% Points Points Behind
1 RUS
AZAROVA Elena
BRUSNIKINA Olga
DAVYDOVA Anastasia
ERMAKOVA Anastasia
GROMOVA Maria
KISELEVA Maria
NOVOKSHCHENOVA Olga
SHORINA Anna
EX
OI 9.9
10.0 9.9
9.9 9.9
9.8 9.8
10.0 9.9
10.0 49.500
49.833 99.333 49.667
2 JPN
FUJIMARU Michiyo
HARADA Saho
KAWASHIMA Naoko
SUZUKI Emiko
TACHIBANA Miya
TAKEDA Miho
TATSUMI Juri
YONEDA Yoko
EX
OI 9.7
9.9 9.9
9.8 9.7
9.9 9.8
9.9 9.8
9.9 48.833
49.500 98.333 49.167 0.500
3 USA
BARTOSIK Alison
DOBRATZ Erin
JASONTEK Rebecca
KOZLOVA Anna
LOWE Sara
McFALL Lauren
NESBITT Stephanie
ZANOTTO Kendra
EX
OI 9.6
9.7 9.8
9.7 9.7
9.7 9.7
9.6 9.8
9.8 48.667
48.500 97.167 48.584 1.083
4 ESP
CORRAL Raquel
FUENTES Andrea
FUENTES Tina
MENGUAL Gemma
MONTERO Ana
RODRIGUEZ Irina
SERRANO Ione
TIRADOS Paola
EX
OI 9.5
9.6 9.7
9.6 9.6
9.7 9.6
9.7 9.6
9.7 48.000
48.333 96.333 48.167 1.500
5 CAN
CHAN Erin
CHASE Jessica
DUBUC Jessika
GAGNE Marie-Pierre
LETOURNEAU Fanny
NACKONEY Shayna
RENIERE-LAFRENIERE Anouk
STEWART Courtenay
EX
OI 9.5
9.5 9.6
9.5 9.5
9.6 9.4
9.5 9.5
9.6 47.500
47.667 95.167 47.584 2.083
6 CHN
CHEN Yu
GU Beibei
HE Xiaochu
HOU Yingli
HU Ni
LI Zhen
WANG Na
ZHANG Xiaohuan
EX
OI 9.4
9.3 9.5
9.4 9.4
9.4 9.4
9.4 9.6
9.4 47.167
47.000 94.167 47.084 2.583
7 ITA
CIRULLI Monica
FIORENTINI Costanza
PACCAGNELLA Joey
PLAISANT Elisa
SAVOIA Sara
SPAZIANI Beatrice
ZAFFALON Lorena
ZANAZZA Laura
EX
OI 9.3
9.4 9.4
9.3 9.3
9.4 9.3
9.4 9.4
9.4 46.667
47.000 93.667 46.834 2.833
8 GRE
ANASTASIOU Aglaia
CHRISTODOULOU Maria
FTOULI Eleftheria
GEORGIOU Eleni
GOUDA Effrosyni
IOANNOU Apostolia
KOUTSOUDI Evgenia
PELEKANOU Olga
EX
OI 9.2
9.3 9.3
9.2 9.2
9.2 9.2
9.3 9.4
9.3 46.167
46.333 92.500 46.250 3.417

Referee TUDINI Cicci
TSSC

Ass. Referee VILLICANA Cristina
TSSC

Execution Judge 1 ROSCHINA Marina
RUS

Judge 2 ROBERTS Sandra
CAN

Judge 3 SAIDOVA Svetlana
UKR

Judge 4 LOUTFY Laila
EGY

Judge 5 TACKETT Carol
USA

Overall Impression Judge 1 GRAY Jenny
GBR

Judge 2 BESANCON Marie Claude
FRA

Judge 3 ICHIHASHI Harue
JPN

Judge 4 KRALIKOVA Ivona
CZE

Judge 5 LOBO Ana Maria
BRA

Legend
EX-Execution TSSC-Technical Synchronized Swimming Committee OI-Overall Impression Pen.-Penalty
DNS-Did Not Start *-Calculated average score DSQ-Disqualified
FINA-Fédération internationale de natation

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