The 2023
LEN European Junior Artistic Swimming Championships came to an end in Funchal
with the final gold medals awarded to Italy and Spain.
The day
got off to a fabulous start for Italy, with Alessia Macchi and Susanna Pedotti
securing the country’s second gold in the Duet Technical. After earning silver
in the Duet Free two days ago, the Italians scored 221.0600 for their “Cruella”
choreography and became the new European Junior Champions in the event.
Alisa
Kulyk and Ameliia Volynska of Ukraine clinched the silver medal with a 215.2133
for their routine set to the theme of “Always a Way.” The two, competing in the
junior category for the first time, had also claimed a medal, bronze, in the
Duet Free final.
Meritxell
Ferré Gaset and Lilou Lluis Valette of Spain won bronze for their
“Water”-themed routine with a score of 205.1950. The pair actually received a
base mark, dropping their Degree of Difficulty (DD) from 25.45 to 20.40, but
their high artistic impression score of 95.6500 helped them to third place.
The
European Junior title in the Mixed Duet Technical remained with Spain, the
reigning champions of Spain. Maria Bofill Strub and Dennis Gonzalez Boneu were
incredible in their routine set to a remix of Vivaldi’s “Winter” and scored
221.3850 for the gold. The Spaniards not only were credited with the highest
declared DD of the field (27.95) but they also received a massive 96.7000 in
artistic impression, hence ensuring themselves and Spain another title in
Funchal.
“Our
focus was on our elements, all we wanted to avoid was getting basemarks,”
Gonzalez Boneu said. “So today the figures, the artistic part, were kind of
secondary, we went for the best possible execution. I think we swam well and
did our best and the result reflected this.”
Quentin
Rakotomalala and Prune Tapié of France clinched silver with a 203.1617 for
their “Fandango” routine while Ginevra Marchetti and Gabriele Minak of Italy
grabbed bronze with 201.0833 with their choreography set to “Proud Mary” by
Tina Turner.
The two
pairs actually had the same DD of 26.25 and while the Italians were superior in
artistic impression, the French’s strong execution and cleaner swim with fewer
synchronization errors were the true difference-makers in the end.
The Team
Free final offered a thrilling finish to the competition as Italy clinched its
second gold of the day by only 0.4914 points ahead of Spain, the defending
European Junior Champions.
With its
“Inclusion” routine, Italy claimed the top spot with a score of 258.5435. The
nation had actually placed fifth in the preliminary round after receiving three
base marks. Ahead of this final, the Italians had played it safe and slightly
decreased their DD to 38.735. The strategy paid off as they had no issues this
time around and no base marks.
“This was
a perfect day, we are really overjoyed with these gold medals,” Alessia Macchi
said. “The team title is really special and makes us absolutely happy as we
practiced our routine for only a week before the championships. The duet was
fantastic, we didn’t even hope we could get two gold medals here, it’s like a
dream for both of us and for all of us!”
Spain had
to settle for silver with 258.0521 for its “Witches” routine. The Spaniards had
increased their DD by 0.15 since the preliminary round, where they had placed
second, to reach 36.95. In the final, they put out a strong performance, not
incurring any base marks and receiving the highest artistic impression score
(115.8500), but it wasn’t quite enough to match Italy’s high difficulty.
The team
of Greece, fourth in 2022, grabbed the bronze with a score of 251.8521 for its
“Warriors” routine. The Greek had placed first in the preliminary round and
were again awarded their full 39.65 DD. Unfortunately, they could not quite
catch up to Italy and Spain, which had much stronger showings than in the
preliminary.
Ultimately,
Spain will leave Funchal at the top of the medal table, tallying 10 medals in
total across 11 events: five golds, three silvers and two bronze.
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