WCH team synchronized swimming free program. The composition is new, the result is the same: Russian synchronized swimmers won the gold of the World Championship, despite the rejuvenation of the team

The synchronized swimmers of the Russian team took the fifth gold in the outdoor pool of Budapest, where the World Aquatics Championship is being held. Svetlana Kolesnichenko and Oleksandra Patskevich had no equal in the free program of duets, who confidently defeated rivals from China with a difference of 1.7 points. The Chinese women could not cope with the invincible Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina, they could not resist the new generation of our mermaids.

No ideas - take Russian

The former head coach of the Spanish synchronized swimming team, Ana Tarres, has never been shy about borrowing whole pieces of programs from her Russian colleagues. Nothing has changed with her transfer to the Chinese team. The duo Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen showed in Budapest a slightly modernized Mermaid program, with which our five-time Olympic champions Ishchenko and Romashina shone.

Entire pieces of the program and even swimwear were simply copied by the Chinese team. This is not prohibited by the rules, and, probably, on the one hand, it can serve as the best assessment of the work of the Russian school of synchronized swimming. But after all, we are not talking about the teams of Austria or Kazakhstan, for example, which medals in the "synchronous" pool can only dream of, but about the main competitors.

Pokrovskaya - in pink, Russia - in gold. Synchronized swimmers are invincible

Russian synchronized swimmers won the gold of the World Championship - 2017 in the technical program of the groups. Completely new composition.

In synchronized swimming, there has long been a practice to show Olympic programs for the next season after the Games, but if they are shown by a team from the same country. In Budapest, the Chinese women swung at the "Mermaids". If it were figure skating, the judges would not have given them such high marks - there, repetitions, even in their own performance, are not welcome. But this is a different sport in which the hegemony of Russia is already fed up with everyone.

Chinese women swung at the Russian "Mermaids". If it was figure skating, plagiarism would have been reflected in the marks.

New mermaids are not worse than the old ones

That is why the judges generously gave the Chinese women high scores. It was clear that if anyone could get ahead of Tintin and Wenwen, then only the Russians.

By lot, Kolesnichenko and Patskevich competed through the same team after the Chinese, and our girls, together with their mentor Tatyana Danchenko, had the opportunity to accumulate all the emotions associated with outright plagiarism. Moreover, Svetlana and Alexandra themselves acted not as the original, but as new performers of one of the most difficult programs in the history of synchronized swimming.

Angela and Dimona. you yourself are disgusting

The mixed Russian duet won silver at the World Championships in synchronized swimming. Men in this sport should have a place in the Olympic program.

The new generation of Russian mermaids turned out to be no worse than the previous one. Height, grace, acrobatics - the highest class, so far unattainable for anyone. But the judges were a bit stingy with the scores for Kolesnichenko and Patskevich. The gap between Russians and Chinese women in this Olympic synchronized swimming event could be at least one point more than the final one.

Tatyana Danchenko, who was more nervous than usual before the start of the performance, immediately blossomed and kissed the new world champions. You can exhale, but the sediment still remains - when ideas are simply stolen, it is always unpleasant.

Height, grace, acrobatics - the highest class, so far unattainable for anyone. The total score for Kolesnichenko and Patskevich could have been higher.

13 hundredths in favor of Ukraine

The intrigue in the free program of duets was not only in the comparison of the original and the copy, but also in the struggle for the third place, which was equally claimed by the teams of Ukraine and Japan. Both duets were worthy of bronze medals, but there are practically no equal points in synchronized swimming.

Golden Debut. The new star of the Russian national team in synchronized swimming

The first gold of the Russian team at the World Aquatics Championships was predictably won by synchronized swimmer Svetlana Kolesnichenko.

That is why the judges, having calculated everything, rated the program of Anna Voloshina and Elizaveta Yakhno a little higher. Yukiko Inui and Kanami Nakamaki lost only 0.13 points to the Ukrainians. In synchronized swimming at the World Championships in Budapest, three more sets of awards remain to be played - in free programs of mixed duets and groups and in combination. In the latter form, the Russian team will not be represented.

In the group, two gold medals of the tournament, in addition to Shurochkina and Chigireva, were won by Daria and Anastasia Bayandins, Marina Golyadkina, Darina Valitova, Polina Komar, Veronika Kalinina.

Plagiarism

Another group program at this tournament was, albeit a little, but Russian and also brought gold. It was a "combination" performed by the Chinese team. For her production, the Chinese took part of the famous "Prayer", with which the Pokrovskaya team triumphantly performed in Rio.

"The Chinese took about two minutes of the music that we had from Prayer. Without cutting, without anything, and the most interesting thing is that there are also movements from our program. This confused everyone the most. It turns out that they are fighting with us our music, our elements," Romashina clarified the situation.

The Chinese synchronized swimmers themselves gave evasive answers to direct questions about borrowing. “They don’t admit it. Who admits this,” Romashina was indignant.

Latest in history

The last world champions in synchronized swimming - now it will officially be artistic - were the Russians Mihaela Kalancha / Alexander Maltsev. There were a lot of special moments in the mixed duets competition. In particular, the criticism was caused by the fact that the technical program was judged by Father Giorgio Minizini. And Minisini and Manila Flamini defeated the Russians, who presented Carmen to the jury, while the Italians themselves performed the program "Scream of Lampeduso", which they were given by four-time Olympic champion Anastasia Ermakova.

At the world championships, the Russian team in synchronized swimming traditionally collects almost all the gold. The collection of the national team in Budapest already has six gold medal sets. Russian girls received all the awards of the highest standard in solo, duets and mixed doubles - both in technical and free programs. The last chord was the gold of the group in the free program, which was won, despite the radical renewal of the line-up.

Tatyana Danchenko has been working with soloists and duets in the national team for many years, and so successfully that her wards have already chalked up 25 gold medals of the world championships. In an interview with RT, the coach told how she managed to put victories on the conveyor and what she thinks about her closest competitors.

“No one is trying to sue us”

- Thanks to the victory of Svetlana Kolesnichenko and Alexandra Patskevich in the free program of duets, as a coach, you now have 25 gold medals in the world championships. Have you tried to comprehend this incredible figure yourself?

- Awareness has not yet come. So far, I'm just really happy with what happened. In addition, the long-awaited vacation has come, and I feel a sense of deep satisfaction from the work done.

Which of these medals is the most valuable?

“Each one is important in its own way. Behind every medal lies serious work and hard work. I put all my soul into these competitions, and now I can’t even single out anything. Although I remember well the first World Cup medal. In 2001, in Fukuoka, Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova remained second in the duet competition, but two years later they already won in Barcelona!

- Every two years at the World Cup, the Russian team collects almost all the gold medals. Doesn't the joy of victory fade with time?

- If it was easy for us or the judges would give the Russians overestimated marks, then maybe the euphoria from the victories would dull the sensations. And so we try not only to keep the bar and win, but to win by a huge margin, so that the judges do not even have doubts who is the strongest here. So the victories are given to us with great difficulty and, of course, after each we experience great joy.

- It is clear that in the international federation they are not too happy with the hegemony of the Russians. Aren't you afraid that we might be sued? For example, in the mixed doubles in the technical program, the Italians became the best, and one of the referees was the father of the champion, Giorgio Minisini.

- There was a lot of talk about this story in the mixed doubles, but in fact, Roberto Minisini has been judging synchronized swimming for a long time, and he has an excellent reputation. Moreover, for some reason, everyone did not notice that the father's assessment during the son's speech was eventually discarded. As for my wards, I don’t feel any pressure at all. There is no such thing that we are tired of someone. If we perform well, then the marks are appropriate. But you need to understand that synchronized swimming is a subjective sport, Russian women always need to be three heads taller.

“In such heat, they gave one installation - to survive”

- Kolesnichenko and Patskevich got into a duet only six months ago, and the latter had never performed in pairs before. Is it a miracle that they took two gold medals in Budapest?

- Miracle? There are no miracles in sports. This result was achieved thanks to hellish work in training. Perhaps, I realized that the girls are able to take gold, even during demonstration performances in the training center "Round Lake". It was three weeks before the World Cup.

- As already mentioned, for Patskevich this was the first experience of performing in duets. Was it hard to prepare for them?

- Firstly, she is a very experienced and purposeful girl. Two-time Olympic champion. It was necessary to work with her correctly, to choose a special technique just for her. It is clear that Sasha was very hard, she understood that the duet is not a group. She was well aware of the fact that these are completely different styles, different work. But Patskevich coped with everything and achieved a high result.

- What is the main difference between a duet and a group?

- I would not say that the girls had to be taught directly, they just needed to learn some new things. Of course, the duet has its own specifics. In the group, everyone performs equalizations, supports, again, there are seven partners around you who can tell you. And there are only two of you in the duet. Every detail matters here. The girls in the duet really work without the right to make a mistake.

- In Budapest, a strong heat has been lingering in recent days. How to keep fit in this weather?

- In such heat, it was hellishly difficult for the girls to perform. There was only one goal - to survive, to make the program with force, to make a minimum of mistakes, and most importantly, not to forget what country we represent.

- You were probably only glad when, after the victory of Kolesnichenko and Patskevich in the free program, the wards traditionally bathed you in the pool?

To be honest, I didn't expect this laughs). Usually coaches are bathed after the performance of the group. I don't remember this happening after the duet. Ugliness. It was pretty cold. Sanctions for girls? Of course we won't punish them! I just wasn't ready for it, I didn't even have spare clothes with me. I had to get out somehow.

“It is strange that the Chinese are fighting Russia with our own methods”

- The Chinese women almost completely copied the Mermaid free program, with which Natalya Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina won at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and which Kolesnichenko and Patskevich put on the World Cup.

- Not completely. But on the first line they took a lot of moves from us. You can't argue here. I think that it is not entirely ethical for the strongest teams in the world to fight Russia using Russian methods. If people claim to be world champions, they must be able to do something of their own.

- The composition of the group compared to the Olympic Games in Rio was almost completely updated, but Russia again took two gold medals. Were there any fears that it might not work?

“I was sure that everything would turn out well. Tatyana Nikolaevna Pokrovskaya and I (a long-term coach of the Russian national team. — RT) we are worried about the quality of our performance. We want not just to win, but to win beautifully, so that there will be no talk after that.

- They are trying to bypass Russia by any means, using our own programs. Do you feel that the pressure is increasing every year and that it is becoming more and more difficult to earn gold?

- In fact, every year after the end of the season, the next one immediately begins. You have to work very hard. There is always pressure and responsibility. To keep the winning bar, you need to move only forward. If we stop even for a moment, they will immediately overtake us. In a year, in two. The main thing is not to stand still!