The
fourth day of competition at the 2023 LEN European Junior Artistic Swimming
Championships in Funchal was filled with as many exciting and history-making
moments as the previous ones.
Two days
after winning gold in the Female Solo Technical, Klara Bleyer of Germany earned
her second European Junior title in the Female Solo Free final with a score of
208.8479. Her “Mandalorian”-themed routine was stacked with difficulty; the
19-year-old had declared 34.10 as her Degree of Difficulty (DD), the highest of
the field. After a clean and strong swim, she received full credit and hence
secured herself and Germany a historical second gold medal.
“I am
super overwhelmed and also super happy,” she said. “Everything went really
fine, I am very excited for the future. With the new scoring system, everything
is possible now, it’s much more exciting.”
Zoi
Karangelou of Greece was also credited with her full DD of 32.20 and won silver
with 206.4500. The 18-year-old had actually modified some of her hybrids and
decreased her DD by 2.10 from the
preliminary round, where she had placed eighth and received four base marks.
The play-it-safe strategy clearly paid off as she moved onto the podium with
her “Moonlight” choreography.
After
winning silver in the Female Solo Technical, Lilou Lluis Valette of Spain
added a bronze to her medal haul with a score of 196.9771 for her routine set
to the soundtrack of “The Theory of Everything”. The Spaniard actually went for
the opposite strategy and raised her DD to 29.05, a 1.65 increase from the
preliminary. Lluis Valette had placed sixth then, but this gamble also paid off
for her in the final. She was awarded her full difficulty and clinched yet
another medal for Spain.
Six
athletes took part in the Male Solo Free final, including David Martinez
Delgado of Sweden who was making his international debut and who became the
first Swedish male artistic swimmer to swim in a major competition.
Ultimately,
the three medallists from 2022 found themselves on the podium again, albeit in
a different order. This time, Filippo Pelati, bronze medallist last year,
claimed the top spot and first gold for Italy with a score of 172.0125.
Swimming to “Fallin’” by SERYO, the 16-year-old showed a strong performance and
was credited his full DD of 25.55.
“I am
very happy and proud of this medal,” he said. “I didn’t expect anything like
this in this competition and with all the base marks. When I got out of the
water, I actually could see the [technical] controllers taking a lot of time to
review, so I expected base marks. So I am very happy it didn’t come true.”
Dennis
Gonzalez Boneu of Spain, the defending European Junior Champion and reigning
World Champion in the event, earned silver with a score of 166.3313. The
Spaniard had declared a DD of 28.55, the highest of the field and a 2.30
increase since the World Championships, for his routine set to “Golden Hour” by
JVKE. Unfortunately, he received a costly base mark, which dropped him to
second place.
Ranjuo
Tomblin of Great Britain, silver medallist in 2022, grabbed the bronze with a
score of 146.4938 for his “Samurai” routine. This is his third medal in
Funchal, after claiming silver in the Mixed Duet Free and bronze in the Male
Solo Technical.
In the
Acrobatic Routine Final, Spain claimed its fourth gold of the competition after
scoring 206.8033 on its “Machines” choreography. The Spaniards were the
defending European Junior Champions in this event, and once again could not be
denied. Both Dennis Gonzalez Boneu and Fernando Diaz del Rio Soto swam in the
routine as well, and were the only two male athletes to take part in this
final.
“We did
our best routine ever,” Gonzalez Boneu said. “We’ve put in so much energy and I
think we did really great. For me, it is the most fun to swim with the girls
and with Fernando. This acrobatic routine gave us so much opportunity to show
something special. I really enjoyed it today.”
The
podium in this event was ultimately the same as in 2022, with Italy taking the
silver and Greece the bronze. The Italians received 187.7867 on their “Dragons”
routine while the Greek scored 173.1600 for their new “Snakes” choreography.
The
competition concludes tomorrow in Funchal. Tune in for the Duet Technical and
Mixed Duet Technical Finals at 9:30, and the Team Free Final at 17:00.
Crédito
photo: Aniko Kovacs
Direitos autorais: Aniko Kovacs/World Aquatics
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