Perfect sync: Russia wraps up another dominating run at the synchro pool

Russia wraps up another dominating run in synchro

ROME — With an aquatic-themed performance, Russia wrapped up another dominating run at the synchronized swimming pool with a victory Saturday in team free, the final event of the world championships.

The Russians received a couple of 10s for artistic impression and nothing lower that 9.9 for a total of 99.167 points Saturday. They swam to Alveiro’s “Life of Sea,” bouncing in and out of the water like dolphins at one point and kicking their legs in perfect sync to the music at the end of their routine.

“We are satisfied,” Anastasia Davydova said. “We are not saying we are the best — it is just a matter of fact. The judges’ score proved it.”

Perennial runner-up Spain, wearing skeleton suits to go along with their “Haunted House” music, received one 10 for artistic impression but settled for another silver at 98.167. China was third at 97.167.

The Russians won six of seven synchro events in Rome, matching their six golds from the 2007 worlds in Melbourne. They did not compete in free combination.

“We trained hard on our lifts the past two months,” Davydova said. “We feared China and Spain. We felt more confident after the judges’ score, both in the technical merit and in the artistic impression. Now we will rest.”

There wasn’t a whole lot of drama at the synchro pool, reinforcing the impression that judging is largely based on reputation instead of performance.

In addition to Russia winning gold in every event it entered, Spain took six silver medals, moving up to gold in the lone event the Russians skipped. China settled for four bronze medals, grabbed silver behind Spain in the free combination, and skipped the other two events.

While there were some complaints about the judging, everyone agreed the Russians were best in team free.

“We need more accuracy to reach the Russian team’s level,” Spain’s Thais Henriquez said. “We tried to innovate as much as possible. The program is new and we worked on it just for a short time.”

“Russia is faster than us in their movements,” China coach Wang Jia added. “They also have better artistic impressions. We need to work on becoming faster and stronger.”

Beyond those top three, the only other countries to get on the medal stand were Canada (two bronzes) and Italy (one bronze). Canada was fourth in four events, while Italy had two fourth-place showings and finished fifth three times.

The U.S., once a power in synchro, didn’t come close to the medal stand. The Americans took part in only three events and never finished higher than seventh, closing out with a ninth-place showing in team free.