Spain’s Iris Tio Casas clinched her third gold in Artistic Swimming in Singapore, winning the Mixed Duet Free event competing with Dennis González Boneu, who himself won his fifth medal at this year’s World Aquatics Championships.
There was success for China in the Artistic Swimming Open Team Acrobatic Final, while Men’s 27m Platform and Women’s 20m Platform competition continued in High Diving on day 15.
Read below to hear more from the competitors and their coaches!
Artistic Swimming
Iris TIO CASAS (ESP) – Gold in Mixed Duet Free
On winning gold:
“We are very happy because we feel very proud. With this choreography, we feel very good and we like it a lot – the music and the choreography – and we feel a really good connection. We enjoy swimming this choreography a lot, so we are super happy.”
On their partnership:
"We have a really good connection. Since the day we started training, we connected and we feel good"
"The World Cups went well and we are happy that we can finish the season with a happy ending.”
Dennis GONZALEZ BONEU (ESP) – Gold in Mixed Duet Free
On the close scores and the level of competition:
“The level is so high because all the mixed duets now are on a high level with the difficulty and new rules – they take these new rules to stay higher. All the countries work a lot for that and also Spain, we try to do it this year. A lot of countries have the best girl swimmer with the male because last year, we did swim with one of the girls in the team but now we try to do the best version with the best boy and girl of the teams - all the teams did that and that’s important for us.”
On the significance of these World Championships for Spain:
“These first World Championships after the Olympic Games, we had a lot of changes to the staff in Spain and we tried to start from the beginning of this Olympic cycle, doing our best to keep our names at the top of the competition for the next Olympic Games.”
Isabelle THORPE (GBR) – Bronze in Mixed Duet Free
“I feel really happy, especially after the duet tech, when we came in fourth. We were a little disappointed with that but we managed to turn it around and came away with a bronze, so we’re really happy.
“The mixed duet is very different compared to a lot of other events, so I got to express myself a lot more and I really enjoyed that.”
ZHANG Xiaohuan, CHN coach – Gold in Team Acrobatic
“I feel very happy that the results here have shown that we have yet another batch of young artistic swimmers to lead Team China. They’ve done superbly, although they still have a lot to work on. I have thought about many things that could crop up to affect us. To be honest, we were feeling very confident before we came, but from the moment [Zhang] Yayi hurt her leg, there was this cloud hanging over us.”
ZHANG Yayi (CHN) – Gold in Team Acrobatic
"I also only knew shortly before the competition that I would be part of the team"
"I think I did fairly well today – the whole team did. We were able to execute all seven acrobatic moves well and deliver a clean routine.”
Andrea FUENTES, ESP coach – Bronze in Team Acrobatic
“I was not expecting the results of that amount so fast. I know that my goal was to bring Spain to the maximum amount of medals, the highest value, but I thought it was going to be later. I was very lucky to have a very good team. It’s been a very complicated trip at the beginning, because we had only nine months to know each other, and also for me to adapt to another culture.”
Lilou LLUIS VALETTE (ESP) – Bronze in Team Acrobatic
“We enjoyed it a lot. It was the combined effort of working together that won us bronze. I’m pleased to have worked with them.”
High Diving
Rhiannan IFFLAND (AUS) – Women’s 20m Platform Rounds 1-4
“Look, (Dive) 3 really counted, (Dive) 4 was just to secure a spot in the final dive. Dive 3, I feel like I could have done it a little better. It was a small, small miss on the entry, but that’s okay. (I’m) super stoked and getting ready for tomorrow.”
Molly CARLSON (CAN) – Women’s 20m Platform Rounds 1-4
“I have to fight tomorrow. I messed up my Round 3 dive, and that definitely counts for tomorrow, which means I’m right in the middle of the pack with all these girls. It’s tough, it’s tough out there. Everyone’s doing their best. If we were in the old format, I would’ve been standing here a three-time silver medallist. But unfortunately, we have a final to do, and we’ve got to fight for it. I’m excited to give it a try.”
“It’s nice being at the end. You’re challenging, pushing to be one of the top finishers. I do like the pressure of that. We’ll see tomorrow. I’m not sure where my two dives from 1 and 3 will place me, but still enough pressure to do good.”
Constantin POPOVICI (ROU) – Men’s 27m Platform Rounds 1-4
“It’s not about confidence level, because we reset two dives and we have two easy and intermediate dives. The big points, you get it on the big dives. Of course you’re confident that your dives went well, but you have to stay focused."
"You don’t want to be too confident, you just focus on what you have left"
Carlos GIMENO (ESP) – Men’s 27m Platform Rounds 1-4
“I’m feeling very, very happy. In the first dive, I got eight, so I’m very happy with that one, because also that is gonna get me to the final. In the final, we’ve only got two dives, so the first one that I did today is going to count for the final, so pretty good. And my last dive was amazing. I think it’s been one of the best dives I’ve ever done with all nines. The feeling was really good there. I did clean somersaults, and had a very clean entry. I'm very happy, very excited, and can’t wait to put up my best performance again on Sunday.”
Gary HUNT (FRA) – Men’s 27m Platform Rounds 1-4
“I definitely have found it more difficult to be the champion, because you need to create ways to motivate yourself. It’s easy if there’s another person who is the champion and you’re the underdog. It’s easy to build that fire, you want to be the best. But when you’ve already climbed the mountain, when you’re on top, it’s a different kind of work. It’s a different kind of motivation, or you need to find different reasons to get out of bed in the morning and to train, so you need to adapt. You need to create a reason for you to dive well; why you want to win, and that’s what the best champions do.”