Austrian duet Anna-Maria and Erini-Mariana Alexandri continued their impressive pre-Olympic Games form with a narrow victory over home favourites Jacqueline Simoneau and Audrey Lamothe on the second day of the Artistic Swimming World Cup in Markham.
The sisters won Duet Free gold at the World Aquatics Championships and European Games in 2023, as well as the recent World Cup in France, which doubled up as a Paris 2024 test event.
Injury struggles have restricted their appearances since the 2023 Worlds, where they were fifth in the Technical final, but they claimed a morale-boosting victory in the discipline in Canada, with a new Tech routine attaining an overall score of 248.3567.
That was just 0.0217 ahead of Simoneau and Lamothe (248.3350), with Japan’s Moe Higa and Tomoka Sato (246.3600) completing the podium places.
The success was all the more impressive given the final featured the majority of the duets who are expected to line-up in Paris in August.
“It was the first time we swam this routine and it felt really good, like in training and our coach as well as our sister (Vasiliki) were really satisfied too which is a great feeling,” Anna-Maria Alexandri told World Aquatics.
Erini-Mariana added, “This is just one step towards the Olympic Games, though, which is the main goal.
“Well, also the gold medal at the Olympic Games, but we focus on the performance and we want to be the best version of ourselves at the Olympics.”
Team Free Final | USA Leaves Frustration From Yesterday's Team Technical Final
The USA had been left somewhat frustrated by their third-place finish in the Team Tech final on the opening day of competition in Canada, but seven of the eight from that line-up returned on day two and delivered an outstanding performance in the Team Free final.
The Americans, who were without artistic swimming legend Bill May, replaced Calista Liu with two-time Team Acrobatic world medallist Keana Hunter for this final and achieved an outstanding combined total of 341.6208.
That was enough for the USA to top the podium, clear of Canada (326.2981) and Kazakhstan (247.6605).
“We did a lot to make sure that our routine was a lot bigger and more epic than before,” USA’s Daniella Ramirez told World Aquatics.
“We’ve got a lot of tricks up our sleeve right now and this is just another test event towards what our real routine is going to be so we’re building ourselves slowly so we can be at our best at the Olympic Games.”
Day 2 Markham | Conclusion of the Men's and Women's Solo Competitions
Day two of the Artistic Swimming World Cup in Markham also saw the conclusion of the women’s and men’s solo competitions with their respective Free finals following on from Friday’s Tech events.
2024 breakthrough star Xu Huiyan continued her incredible debut season on the senior circuit by adding the Women’s Solo Free title in Markham to her maiden success at the season-opening World Cup in Beijing, two months ago.
18-year-old Xu, who won Team Tech gold with China and Solo Tech silver on day one in Canada, secured her latest podium honour with a combined score of 241.9354.
Canadian Jacqueline Simoneau, winner of the Tech event on Friday, this time settled for silver (230.5770), with Slovakia’s Viktoria Reichova (198.2021) securing a second successive bronze.
“I had no idea I’d be swimming solo after Doha (2024 World Championships), so it was a pleasant surprise to be swimming it in front of a home crowd,” Simoneau told World Aquatics.
“I’m pleased with the way things went today, but I’m not sure what they future holds for the solo event because I’d like to focus more on the Olympic events and routines.”
Kazakhstan's Druzin Secures First World Cup Gold
Men’s Solo Free world champion Dennis Gonzalez Boneu recently returned to action after undergoing knee surgery and although he claimed Mixed Duet Tech gold on the opening day in Canada, he was a little off his best in the Men’s Solo Free final.
The Spaniard’s combined score of 185.8751 was enough for bronze, behind Italian World Youth Artistic Swimming champion Filippo Pelati (186.1168).
Gold, for the first time in his senior career, went to 17-year-old Kazakhstan swimmer Viktor Druzin who grabbed gold through a total of 193.7938.
“I feel amazing,” Druzin told World Aquatics.
“I always want everything to be perfect, but today it felt really easy, like never before which is because I put everything into it.”
What's to Come on the Final Competition Day in Markham
The final day of competition will see artistic swimmers contest three further finals; Mixed Duet Free, Women’s Duet Free and Team Acrobatic.