China maintains competition lead after Team Free

The second of three nights of Artistic Swimming at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games took place at the Olympic Aquatics Centre this evening, with the People’s Republic of China finishing first in the Team Free with 398.8917 points, ahead the United States of America (360.2688), Mexico (347.3874), and Spain (346.4644).

Artistic Swimming at the Olympic Games is an aggregate of three routines across three nights, and after the Team Technical and Team Free events it is China that maintains their lead on 712.4455 points, ahead of the United States (643.0255), Spain (633.6119), and Japan (627.9308). All three of China, Spain, and Japan, have never won an Olympic gold medal in the Artistic Swimming team event. The United States of America’s sole gold medal came at Atlanta 1996.

Tonight’s Team Free event was the longest of the three routines in Paris at three-minutes and thirty seconds, and consists of a combination of seven Free Hybrid Elements and four Team Acrobatic Elements. This is the highest scoring of the three routines at Paris 2024, with the Team Acrobatic to close the competition tomorrow night.

THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA top scored for the second night in a row with their ‘Gravitation’ routine to the music of composers Thomas Bergersen and Nick Phoenix. Scoring 398.8917 with a 67.150 DD routine, China again outscored all teams in both Elements (277.2917) and Artistic Impression (121.6000). The team, who won gold in the Team Free at Doha 2024, were last to perform on the second night of competition. They opened their routine with two acrobatic elements, before launching into their most difficult hybrid of the night, a 11.00 DD that included difficulty factor bonuses for travelling, synchronisation, and five pattern changes. China lead the competition on 712.4455 points, and are now one routine away from claiming their first-ever Olympic gold medal in Artistic Swimming to cap off a dominant three years in the sport.

“After last night’s competition we saw that many teams had a higher reported degree of difficulty today, we were ranked only fifth or sixth. We knew there would be pressure, but we always remain confident, and focussed on our own routine, and work on maximising our own score, and I think we did it in today’s performance. We know with the new rules that it is possible to be ahead of teams by 20 points, and then get surpassed in an instant,” said China’s Feng Yu.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA bounced back from a rollercoaster twenty-four hours having been awarded a basemark in the Team Technical before that decision was reversed after lodging a protest. The decision kept Team USA in the hunt for a medal in Paris, and tonight the Andrea Fuentes coached team delivered on the biggest stage possible. Spurred on by legend Bill May, who was tonight’s honorary event opener with the Paris 2024 ‘Coup de Baton’ tradition, the United States placed second in the Team Free with 360.2688 points from a 68.250 DD routine. The ‘I Am The Water’ performance was devised by coach Fuentes who told World Aquatics before the competition that water “gives us life, is in our bodies, you have rivers, oceans, it's a beautiful choreography that makes you reflect on the importance of water in our lives.” Like the team’s inverted moonwalk last night, tonight the team lit up the arena with their first hybrid, an 11.750 DD with a nine-pattern change bonus. It was the second most-difficult hybrid across all routines tonight. The United States are now second overall after two nights of competition on 643.0255 points.

 “Tonight brought us back to that feeling when we officially qualified in Doha. So to end this routine and have a basemark free swim, a clean swim, after a little emotional rollercoaster yesterday, was super exciting for us. We’re super happy. Tomorrow night is our newest routine, our acrobatic routine, with the choreography made specifically for this team of athletes. I think it’s our favourite routine to swim and perform, so I think we’re just so excited to try to bring it home on the final day with a bit of magic,” said the United States of America’s Anita Alvarez.

 SPAIN again went big in their search for Olympic gold, with tonight’s Team Free the second highest degree of difficulty of the night. Scoring 346.4644 from their 71.255 DD routine, the ‘Aladdin’ themed performance was integrated with the voice of Robin Williams as Genie, with music, costume, and movements integrated with the theme. Prior to the competition the team explained they had watched the movie many times together and had “wanted to create our version of Aladdin in the water.” The routine was highlighted by a 10.050 second hybrid as the genie emerged from the bottle, however Spain did incur a basemark on their fourth acrobatic element. Spain are third overall on 633.6119 points.

“Tomorrow we have a very daring, very exciting routine. I hope the audience experiences and feels just like we do. This is the OIympic Games, and yes we want good scores, but we also want the audience experiencing it like us, crying with us if necessary, and luckily at these Olympic Games we have our families with us. It is going to be a special moment,” said Spain’s Paula Ramirez Ibanez.

JAPAN suffered a huge shock in last night’s Team Technical however had their protest upheld to put the team back in medal contention. In tonight’s Team Free their 67.800 DD routine received a basemark in the second acrobatic element to finish sixth on 343.0291 points. Japan’s ‘Chess’ routine portrayed a battle between opposing sides on a chessboard with dramatic outfits to match. Performing to producer Gabriel Shadid’s Hold It Steady, released under his Epic Score production company, the performance was also bookended by Japanese artists Kohta Yamamoto and Keigo Hoashi. The second last team to perform opened with two acrobatic elements, and then a 11.250 DD hybrid, as they chase a record fifteenth medal in Artistic Swimming. Japan are fourth overall on 627.9308 points.

“It is our last time swimming with this theme, so we tried to focus on our facial expressions. I felt I did my best, and we will still chase the gold, silver, or bronze medal, even though we received a basemark,” said Japan’s Moe Higa.

FRANCE delivered another crowd-pleasing performance as they opened the night two competition with their ‘Women’ routine about female empowerment. Scoring 340.0561 from a 66.750 DD routine, the French team went basemark-free for another night. Performing to Mesdames by French slam-poet Fabien Marsaud, the bold choice paid off in spades. The routine, developed specifically for these Olympics, celebrated mothers, sisters, and daughters. The team worked closely with a hip-hop choreographer in a lead-up to the games to alter their movements – and for the second night in a row the Julie Fabre, Laure Orby, and Marie Annequin coached team brought the house down. Dressed in vibrant orange outfits, with faces on the back of their headpieces, the loudest moments at the Olympics Aquatic Centre were the opening acrobatic element and their hybrid nod to Marcel Marceau. France are fifth overall on 617.8486 points.

“We are very satisfied. We wanted to show our strength and our new choreography. We want to innovate, and swim for other women. Our theme was about women, and we swim with them in our hearts, and we are very proud of this,” said France’s Laura Tremble.

CANADA took on the hardest routine of the night, scoring 343.6854 from a 72.650 DD routine to finish the Team Free in fifth. It was a big gamble by the Canadians who were seventh after the revised results of the Team Technical were published. The Canadians were ready to fight for a medal at the Olympic Aquatics Centre, and their appropriately named ‘Boxing’ routine was set to music from the Creed film soundtrack. The Creed movie is a spin-off, and seventh instalment in the famous Rocky franchise series. In the movie the lead character ‘Donnie’ doesn’t win his final bout, but still gains plenty of respect for taking on the light heavyweight champion of the time. There is plenty of parallels to how Team Canada is aiming big here in the Olympic Aquatics Centre pool. Canada are sixth overall on 606.1662 points

ITALY opened their routine with three consecutive Acrobatic Elements and received their first basemark of the competition on the third element. They placed eighth in the Team Free with a score of 326.1500 with their 63.400 DD ‘Animals of the Jungle’ routine. Italy are placed seventh overall on 603.9804 points.

MEXICO bounced back from being the only team to have a basemark applied to their routine on night one to deliver the third best Team Free performance of the night. Perfecting the most difficult element of the night across all routines, their 12.000 DD five-pattern change first hybrid, Mexico scored 347.3874 from their 69.250 DD ‘Monarch Butterflies’ routine. Mexico are placed eighth overall on 590.3365 points.

AUSTRALIA placed ninth on night two with a score of 280.5521 from their 59.575 DD ‘Avatar – Way of Water’ routine. Australia’s best result in the team event was seventh at Beijing 2008 and they are currently in ninth place overall on 516.4592 points.

EGYPT placed tenth in the Team Free with their 57.600 DD ‘Eye on Africa’ routine, with the Yasmine Latif and Nariman Khaled Abdelhafiz coached team receiving basemarks on the final two elements of their routine. Egypt are currently in tenth place overall on 486.7547 points. 

Note:  Following the conclusion of Monday night’s Team Technical, two protests were launched by the United States of America and Japan. Both protests were upheld, resulting in the removal of a basemark in the team’s hybrid elements that were penalised, resulting in the elevation of Japan and the United States to third and fourth on the standings in the Team Technical.