Greece and Spain Share Gold on Day Three of the European Junior Artistic Swimming Championships
The third day of the 2023 European Junior Artistic Swimming Championships in Funchal commenced with the team free preliminary competition, featuring 11 countries. All have advanced to the finals, as reported by the European Swimming League (LEN).
Greece secured its first gold in the duet final. The reigning champions of Spain successfully defended their title in the mixed duet free final, claiming Spain's third gold and fourth medal overall.
For the first time since 2007, Greece became the European Junior Champions in the Duet Free event, thanks to the performance of Maria Karapanagiotou and Ifigenia Krommidaki. The pair had taken second place in the preliminary round, but tonight, they clinched gold with their mesmerizing routine themed 'Elves,' earning a score of 179.6146.
Italy took the silver medal. Susanna Pedotti and Alessia Macchi, the bronze medalists from 2022, secured silver with a score of 165.1708 for their choreography 'Black Panther.' Despite ranking sixth in the preliminary round, the Italians unveiled the second-largest difficulty degree (DD) in the field, aiming for 31.00, but unfortunately received three basic scores. Nevertheless, their performance elevated them to the second place overall.
Ukraine claimed the bronze medal. Alisa Kulyk and Ameliia Volynska from Ukraine finished 10th in the preliminary competition, but they managed to win the bronze medal in the final, scoring 160.8500. Their routine 'Scramble to Position' also included two basic scores, securing Ukraine's first medal in this competition.
Germany finished in fourth place. Klara Bleyer and Susana Rovner from Germany took the top spots in the preliminary round but ended up in fourth place in the final, earning 158.8208 with two basic marks.
Rounding up the top five are Great Britain. Beatrice Crass and Ranjuo Tomblin from Great Britain, who finished fourth last year, claimed the silver medal with a score of 132.2146. They recently concluded a successful campaign on the senior stage, earning fifth place at the World Championships with their choreography 'Alice in Wonderland.'
Tomorrow, on Sunday, August 6th, at 17:00, the team free final will take place.