Russia clinches Free Combination preliminary round: Day three – 2011 FINA World Championships
Russian swimmers continued to impress the arena with their performances on day three of the 2011 FINA World Championships in Synchronised Swimming. The meet was held in Shanghai, China, on Tuesday, July 19.
The final session of the meet conducted the Women’s Free Combination preliminary race, where Russia topped the meet with an impressive score of 97.970 points. The Russia team included Maria Gromova, Natalia Ishchenko, Elvira Khasyanova, Nichenko Koles, Daria
Korobova, Aleksandra Patskevich, Svetlana Romashina, Alla Shishkina and Anzhelika Timanina.
In the meantime, China wound up second with a total score of 96.320 points. The Chinese team comprised of Xiaojun Chen, Jiachen Fan, Li Guo, Ou Liu, Xi Luo, Wenyan Sun, Yiwen Wu and Lele Yu.
Spain earned third placed honours with 95.640 points. The Spanish team were represented by Alba Cabello, Ona Carbonell, Marga Crespi, Andrea Fuentes, Sara Gijon, Thais Henriquez, Paula Klamburg, Iren Montrucchio and Cristina Salvador.
Despite the scintillating performance in the Free Combination preliminary meet, Russia have bright of notching another gold medal in the World Championships.
In the corresponding meet, Russia took home the golden crown at the 2007 World Championships, in Melbourne. On the other hand, Spain won the gold medal at the 2009 World Championships, in Rome.
Earlier, Russia’s Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina won the Women’s Duets Duos preliminary race with a sterling mark of 98.490 points. China’s Tingting Jiang and Wenwen Jiang finished second with 96.770 points, while Ona Carbonell and Andrea Fuentes
of Spain rounded out the top three with a total score of 96.020 points.
In the Technical Teams final, Russia captured the gold medal with a winning score of 98.300 points. After the race, Timanina said, “Today's competition was top standard. We are not perfect and lots of things should be improved. Although Russia is a powerhouse
of synchronized swimming, the sport is not popular in Russia. Hopefully our country and compatriots can help us to further promote the sport.”
In the respective event, China snagged the silver medal with a sterling mark of 96.800 points and Spain captured the bronze medal with 96.000 points.
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