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ISSN 2054-1082

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER (FREE)

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BCN2013 GBR RESULTS AN OVERVIEW OF THE BEST OF BRITISH IN THE CATALAN CAPITAL

REVIEW OF AQUATICS AT BCN2013 THE WORLD’S PERFORMANCES AT THE 15

TH FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, ESP

LATEST NEWS TOP TWO EDITORIAL PICK NEWS FROM BRITISH SWIMMING

+

AQUATICS Magazine

CONTENTS OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF AQUATICSmedia

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2013

05 FOREWORD By the Editor

06 SNAPSHOTS Stunning sporting photos from the major event of the summer

08 TOP TWO BRITISH SWIMMING NEWS The Editor’s pick of the two most important pieces of news

10 BARCELONA 2013: TEAM GBR RESULTS An overview of the results of British Gas GBR Team at the 15th FINA Worlds (LC) - Swimming - Diving + High Diving - Water Polo - Synchronised Swimming - Open Water Swimming

18 BARCELONA 2013: REVIEW An overview of the international aquatic world’s results at the 15th FINA Worlds (LC)

- The Challenges for British Swimming - Thomas Lurz (GER)

- Hungary’s Reincarnation - Rowena Webster (AUS)

- Germany’s Triumph - Orlando Duque (COL)

- The Queens of Barcelona - Svetlana Romashina (RUS)

38 PAST HEROES Revisiting the previous legends in aquatics - Pieter van den Hoogenband (NED)

43 NEWS FINA NEWS: All the news from the International Federation of aquatics. Includes:

Upcoming Events, Change of Nationalities, Doping Offences and Bids on 2015

Events (Courtesy of fina.org)

QUALIFYING TIMES: Major GB and International Meet qualifying times

4 - AQUATICS Magazine

FOREWORD

This year’s summer was an eventful one for us; we started the summer months

with the British Gas Nationals, held once again this year in Sheffield, the home to

British Swimming, before making the journey to the Catalan capital Barcelona, where

the FINA World Championships returned to after a 10 years wait.

The British Nationals was once again a fun packet event but it was sad to see key

members of the international squad such as Liam Tancock and James Goddard left

out after not making the necessary qualifying times for BCN2013.

In Barcelona, the aquatics world was once again re-united with the Montjuïc (the

Palau Sant Jordi, the Piscines Picornell, the Port Vell etc.), as well as the fantastic

performances of the athletes trying to make their mark on the world stage. New stars

were born and the old dogs proved their credentials as the venues filled to the brim

with great crowds who buzzed with energy, enthusiasm and excitement.

For British Swimming broadly, it has been a bittersweet year, claiming some medals

yet not quite reaching their target but with another chance for the athletes to prove

themselves in December as the “Duel in the Pool” returns to the UK – Glasgow, the

site of the Commonwealth Games which will arrive very shortly.

This is the final edition this year but we can look forward to three big events in 2014;

the European Championships in Berlin; the 2nd Youth Olympics in Nanjing and of

course the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. So stay tuned for more exciting action!

Hugo Lowell

Editor in Chief AQUATICS Magazine

AQUATICS Magazine

Editor in Chief

Hugo Lowell

Executive Editors

William Gilman, Robert Howat

Nikon Photography

Matthias Hangst

Florian Eisele

Production & Printing

Mixam Printing UK

CONTRIBUTIONS

FINA Aquatics World Magazine

(Interviews, main Diving and

Synchro articles, Pieter van

den Hoogenband article)

IMAGES

AQUATICSmedia/Hugo Lowell;

BCN2013; Getty Images/Al

Bello, Lintao Zhang; US

Presswire/Daniel Shirley;

Reuters; AquaticsDiving;

Taringa.net

CONTACTS

Please send all letters to:

AQUATICSmedia

7 Abingdon Court, W8 6BS

London, UK

TEL: +44(0)7718138559

EML: [email protected]

France’s men’s freestyle relay team rejoice after their winning

performance at the Palau Sant Jordi.



Calm before the storm…hours of practice about to be put into minutes of

racing. Nikon

Photographers hard at work during a session at the 15th FINA World

Championships. Nikon


In the coming months,

British swimmers will be looking

to lead a team of the best

swimmers of Europe as they go

head to head with the world’s

number one swimming nation,

team USA. Thus it has been

dubbed the ‘Duel in the Pool’.

This year’s edition is set to be held

in Glasgow, the site for the 2014

Commonwealth Games, after the

Tollcross International Sports Centre

received a revamp.

In the past, this event was staged in

Manchester in 2009 when it was last

held in the UK.

“For me it will be special as its being

held in my home town of Glasgow,”

said Olympic silver medalist Michael

Jamieson (GBR). “It will be a great

opportunity t

British Swimming Chief Executive

David Sparkes commented, “we

look forward to seeing some great

swimming with the potential for

world records in what we anticipate

will be one of the fastest pools in the

world.”

The athlete line-ups are yet to be

finalized as both USA Swimming

and the European Federations are

currently in the process of filling their

ranks for a meet which is set to

display some of the best swimming

in the world. AM

opportunity to try the newly

refurbished pool ahead of the

Commonwealth Games next year.”

Jamieson will be one of the Brits

looking to lead the European

contingent, hopefully beating the

Americans in this event for the first

time ever and in front of a home

crowd.

In this competition, the equivalent of

the Ryder Cup, 22 men and 22

women will take to the pool, with

each event held as a head-to-head

final in a short course (25m) format

pool.

AQUATICS Magazine

Between 2000 and 2012,

James Goddard was arguably the

most consistent swimmer on the

British Gas GBR Team, claiming 4

Commonwealth medals over his

long career, 3 of them gold. He

also won 3 European medals, 1

World SC medal and was a staple

on the World Championship and

GB Olympic teams, swimming 5

times and 3 times respectively at

the two highest events in the sport

of swimming.

After finishing seventh at last year’s

Olympics, the 30 year-old has

decided not to defend his

Commonwealth 200m IM and

backstroke titles next year.

After 12 years of swimming at the

highest levels in sport, the Stockport

Metro swimmer who had been racing

internationally since the age of 18,

explained that “It’s time to find

something new in my life.”

Although he won his international

titles at the Commonwealth Games,

his best success came in 2004 at

the Athens Olympics in the 200m

backstroke where he was promoted

to third place after the

disqualification of Aaron Piersol

(USA) who had earlier won the

event. However, following a

successful appeal from the US

Olympic Team, Goddard was once

again demoted to fourth place,

outside of the medals.

Goddard’s last event was the British

Championships, where he sadly

failed to make the team for the 15th

FINA World Championships. AM

9 – AQUATICS Magazine

AQUATICS Magazine


AQUATICS Media IN

Barcelona: REVIEW

On the last day of the 15th

FINA World Championships in

Barcelona, Fran Halsall managed

to win bronze in the 50m freestyle

clocking a 24.30, the third fastest

time of her career.

For the past week, Halsall kept

slipping from the podium spots,

ultimately finishing fourth in the 50m

butterfly by 0.17 seconds.

Andrew Willis and Jazz Carlin also

were just short of a medal, finishing

fourth in the 200m breaststroke

(2:09.13) and 400m freestyle

(4:04.03) respectively.

Michael Jamieson, London 2012

Olympic silver medalist in the 200m

breaststroke, was out-touched by his

teammate by 0.01 and finished fifth

after struggling with a late

season bicep injury.

Hannah Miley, like Jamieson

managed a fifth in the 200m IM

setting a season’s best time of

4:34.16.

Commonwealth champion Robbie

Renwick finished sixth in Barcelona

with a 1:46.52 in the 200m freestyle

while both Dan Wallace and Craig

McNally set Scottish records in the

400 IM (4:13.72) and 200m

backstroke (1:55.67) respectively.

Ultimately, for Great Britain, without

the likes of double Olympic

Champion Rebecca Adlington,

medals were going to be tough. Out

of 17 finalists, GB managed 1 medal

in the swimming medals table, 2

short of their target. AM

AQUATICS Magazine


Red Bull Cliff diving star

Gary Hunt added a much needed

and needed silver to GBR’s overall

medal tally, scoring a 589.30.

Jumping from a sheer 27m, hunt

delivered both blindingly fast dives

and blindingly bright silverware, all

under Barcelona’s blinding sun.

Olympic bronze medalist Tom Daley

dove through a torn tricep injury

finishing sixth in the 10m platform

with a total score of 470.60.

Incidentally, Qui Bo (CHN), a

longtime rival of Daley, took the top

spot leading all the way through

scoring an impressive 581.00.

Sarah Barrow produced her best

performance to date at the Montjuic,

finishing fourth in the 10m platform.

For Barrow, this was the first time

she dove individually rather than as

synchro. She scored 346.45 points

overall.

Tonia Couch, competing at her fifth

World Championship could not quite

make it to the final top eight, having

dropped a dive in the opening round

of the final after having qualified

second from the semi-finals.

Couch and Barrow later made it to

fifth in the 10m synchro, while Alicia

Blagg and Rebecca Gallentree

came sixth in the 3m synchro.

Jack Laugher did not make it to the

final after missing several dives in

the semi-final, having qualified first

so far. AM

Hannah Miley, like Jamieson

managed a fifth in the 200m IM

setting a season’s best time of

4:34.16.

Commonwealth Champion Robbie

AQUATICS Magazine


Although the GB men’s

team did not qualify for Barcelona,

the women’s team made their

return to the FINA World

Championships after a ten year

long wait.

In arguably the toughest group at the

Championships, the women’s team

gave a good fight against the world’s

best waterpolo teams including the

Olympic Gold medal winning team

(USA) and reigning World

Champions (GRE).

With five players playing in their first

ever World Championship, making

Canada, the 2009 World Champions

struggle for their victory over the GB

girls which they won 14-9.

Soon after, the GB team fell to

Greece in a very tough match where

multiple cross-cage shots ended in

the back of the GB net. The second

opening match ended in a 13-7

resulting in another defeat for the

Brits.

After a difficult two matches and

struggling to find team rhythm, team

GB had to bow down to the USA

after missing many potential shots ,

losing 16-4.

For their last match, team GB

bravely battled against Olympic

semi-finalists Hungary, losing 14-5,

ending a very tough week for

Britain’s water polo players who

finished fourth overall. AM

AQUATICS Magazine


After a beautiful London

2012 Olympics where Jenna

Randall and Olivia Federici

performed to finish ninth in the

Technical Routine, using a new

choreography and new music, at

Barcelona they went one step

further bettering their ranking to

joint eighth with Italy, a career

best finish for the two.

They then managed to retain their

ranking of ninth in the highly

competitive Duet Free. They scored

a total of 87.180 in their “Ravens on

the Tower of London” routine to

replicate their London 2012

performance.

Randall then went on to compete in

the Solo event, retaining the eighth

she earned at the 14th FINA World

Championships in Shanghai 2011.

For Barrow, this was the first time

she dove individually rather than as

synchro. She scored 346.45 points

overall.

Tonia Couch, competing at her fifth

World Championship could not quite

make it to the final top eight, having

dropped a dive in the opening round

of the final after having qualified

second from the semi-finals.

Couch and Barrow later made it to

fifth in the 10m synchro, while Alicia

Blagg and Rebecca Gallentree

came sixth in the 3m synchro.

Jack Laugher did not make it to the

final after missing several dives in

the semi-final, having qualified first

so far. AM

AQUATICS Magazine


Shanghai Open Water gold

medalist Keri-Anne Payne finished

14th after she could not manage to

keep a strong enough lead as she

fell back, overpowered on the final

lap.

She crossed the finish line in a time

of 1:58.25.8, as the other GB

swimmer, Danielle Huskisson in her

World Championship debut came

33rd in 2:01:35.5.

Although Payne navigated the buoys

well enough to be in the leading

pack, she was dragged back into the

main group amidst “heavy fighting”

for the cleanest positions.

In the men’s Open Water, Jack

Burnell swam himself to 15th in the

10k on his World Championship

debut. He swam with teammate

Daniel Fogg and both were also

taking the lead several times at

various stages throughout the race.

Burnell went on to finish in a

1:49:30.6, while Fogg, having been

unlucky in the jostling as much as

Payne was, unfortunately got

dragged back finishing 38th in a time

of 1:50:29.0.

Overall, considering the relative

inexperience (except for Payne) in

the GBR Open Water team, the

results were in fact very promising

leading on to Kazan World

Championships in 2015 and of

course, the real deal at Rio 2016.

AM

AQUATICS Magazine


SWIMMING


THE CHALLENGES FOR BRITISH

SWIMMING

There is no doubt British

Swimming is going through

challenging times. At Barcelona,

British Swimming scooped a

grand total of a single bronze

medal when the lights went out at

the Palau Sant Jordi.

It was also so apparent at last

year’s London Olympics. Team GB

came away with a total of 2 bronze

and 1 silver, far less than

expectations.

So what happened?

At Rome for the 13th FINA World

Championships in 2009, Great

Britain stood at sixth in the final

medal table with fantastic

performances from Gemma

Spofforth who set a World Record in

the 100m backstroke and Liam

Tancock in the 50m backstroke,

who bettered his own World Record

and added another gold to the GB

medal count.

In Budapest in 2010 for the

Europeans, British Swimming did

even better in terms of success

stories. Fran Halsall led the GB

team on a rampage, the team

managing to amass18 medals in

total, Halsall herself claiming 5 on

the last day of competition. And

Beijing 2008 star Rebecca

Adlington also got into the medal

mix, coasting to gold in the 400m

freestyle after a disappointing swim

in her favourite 800m freestyle.

Back then, she said happily, “We

have such strength in depth now it

is incredible. The last time we

came here it was a completely

different team as none of us had

won a gold in an individual 100m.”

Riding on their victories over the

last two years, the GB International

team continued on to Shanghai in

2011, ready for more action.

Although this time in 2011, with the

presence of team USA, the world’s

biggest swimming nation, the medal

tally was not the same as that of in

Budapest, British Swimming still

came away with three gold medals

on the world stage; Rebecca

Adlington, back in her fine form

winning this time in the 800m

freestyle; Liam Tancock, defending

his crown in the backstroke sprint

dash event, the 50m backstroke

and Keri-Anne Payne, who

maneuvered the buoys so expertly

in the 10k open water event.

Overall, the team won 6 medals,

moving up to fourth in the medal

table, two places better than in

Rome just two years ago.

Team GB Shined Before


Michael Jamieson could

only finish fifth in

Barcelona after clinching

silver at the London

Olympics last year.

Unfortunately, this was when the

sky started to darken. With the

onset of 2012 and the ever looming

Olympics coming closer with every

passing day, preparations would

have to finish soon. But still, many

at the Olympic Trials, desperate to

secure their Olympic berth for a

home Games, had swum great

times in March. Everything was

looking hopeful as the Olympic

fever which grasped most of Britain

increased steadily.

From the very first day of

competition, team GB were down.

The athletes tried their best and

their races were full of desperate

passion – anyone could see that,

yet the swimming itself was sluggish

and slow. Perhaps it was the

immense pressure of a home

Games. Perhaps it was the poor

training leading up to the big

moment. Perhaps it was the bad

timing of the Trials. Ultimately, we

will never really know. What we do

know was that the results were less

than satisfactory compared to the

other sports where team GB had

their finest ever Games. British

Swimming was forced to completely

re-think their approach to the whole

process of nurturing toddler

swimmers to senior international

level swimmers who could

potentially win World and Olympic

medals.

Unfortunately for team GB, the bad

news from London 2013 continued

into Barcelona.

Just 4 weeks into the job after being

appointed the new performance

director, Bill Furniss, former coach

to Rebecca Adlington confessed

that it had been “a disappointing

week,” after UK Sport had set the

target at three to five medals.


The one swimming medal came in

the form of Fran Halsall, in a

desperate charge to avenge her

performances from London 2012,

clinched a bronze in her favourite

event on the last day.

Alas, it would always have been a

tough meet without the likes of

Rebecca Adlington (who could have

potentially added two more medals

to the tally) and Liam Tancock (who

had failed to make the team in the

100m backstroke and so could not

defend his 50m backstroke crown)

who are normally staple medallists

at major international meets.

Amidst all this downbeat news

however, there is at least some

glimmers of hope.

First, these two meets where things

have gone rather badly for team GB

will serve as a wake-up call. Resting

on the laurels from 2009 has

produced very negative effects in

terms of performance. Starting this

past year, a new Olympic cycle has

begun - it is a fresh start to Rio

2016. The current swimmers will

feel the need and want in their

hearts to perform better because

that is the nature of an athlete.

Secondly, we have a great

contingent of junior swimers

climbing up the ladder to the senior

team. At the FINA Hunior Worlds in

Dubai this summer past, out of the

14 swimmers sent by British

Swimming, ten swimmers came

home with a medal, including four

setting a championship record in the

men’s 4x200m freestyle relay.

We will bounce back from the

disappointing events of London

2012 and BCN2013. Sometimes in

order for great success to happen,

we have to endure great hardships

first.

Hopefully the hardships are over

and British Swimming will only go

from strength to strength until the

lights go off at Rio 2016. AM

Fran Halsall takes off before her bronze medal winning performance.

Interview: THOMAS LURZ (GER)

He had previously taken

bronze in the 5km and silver in

the Olympic distance 10km. Now

Thomas Lurz surprised everyone

by winning the gruelling 25km on

his first ever swim in that event.

When he finished, he clenched

his fists and claimed his fourth

medal in the Catalan capital.

Yet, when asked how he felt before

his gold medal performance he

replied that “to be honest, I felt very

uneasy the day before the race, as I

couldn’t imagine what I had let

myself in for. And I had no idea how

to ration my strength over such a

long distance.”

He said, yet he also commented on

his great strategy which propelled

him to the title in Barcelona. “I think

I chose very smart tactics. It was

obvious I would never set the tempo

in my first

race over 25km, even if we were

treading water. But it was clear to

me that my competitors would take

care of the tempo. Spyridon

Glanniotis set an incredible pace. I

was hardly able to follow but he

soon got into trouble and lacked the

decisive power at the end. And then

I thought Brian Ryckerman began

his sprint finish much too early. I

benefited from this in the end.”

Although he won, swimming the

whole 25km in 4:47.27.0, equivalent

to swimming each 100m in 1:08.9,

he does not think he will ever swim

the long marathon again, “this was

my first and last time. I’m a tough

cookie but I had to go up and

beyond my limits in this race,”

having vomited twice as he

negotiated the salty water in the

Moll de la Fusta.

Lurz was truly enthralling at

BCN2013, winning not only his

individual 25km, getting a silver in the

10km, a bronze in the 5km and then

as team Germany, clinching gold in

the team 5km. And so we asked him:

will there be more to come? “I

definitely can’t say. I have to think

about my future career and that

clearly takes precedence now.

Winning medals is certainly a great

experience, but I won’t be able to live

on that in 2 years’ time. Open water

swimming is not like football or

tennis…”

And we must also remember his age.

Lurz first burst onto the international

scene in 2005 at Montreal and was

on the podium at his first senior

international meet as he remarked,

“ I’m not getting any younger, and this

is gradually becoming more

noticeable.” But whatever he does,

we know he will always do what he

does best – winning. AM



WATER POLO

HUNGARY REINCARNATED

At the Piscines Picornell

on the summit of the Montjuic,

the Catalan capital saw Hungary

return to the top of international

water polo, finishing top of the

podium for the third time after

their disappointing result last

year at London 2012.

They were last here in Barcelona 10

years ago, a distant memory now

after the team’s recent exploits. The

Magyars, as they are known, have

now only lost 6 of the tournaments

they have ever participated in. "We

are very happy, it´s nice to get this

feeling again for me since I also

won here 10 years ago. We are a

new team and it´s so great what we

have achieved," said an ecstatic

Norbert Madras, after adding a

second world title to his two

Olympic gold’s and a euro league

winners medal.

First, Hungary won in a close fought

8-7 against Montenegro. Hungary

defended well and conceded no

goals in the first quarter and scored

four themselves (Varga with one

and Hara the other two). But after

conceding two late goals in the

second quarter, Montenegro were

only one behind at half time.

With 1:19 minutes on clock the

scores were equal at 7-7. With one

of the last throws of the

game, Marton Szivos scored the

decisive goal of the tournament and

shattered Montenegro’s dreams of

their first gold medal since their

independence from Serbia “This

was our chance to win our first ever

gold medal, but it wasn’t meant to

be, nothing was going right for us.

We started badly and ended up

chasing their score for the entire

game and on top of that we lacked

the luck we needed in the last

moment,” said Coach Rankoin

Perovic.

And as icing on the cake: Darko

Brguljan received the honour of best

goalkeeper of the tournament.

Hungary is a giant of international

water polo, literally and

metaphorically, with not a single

player under 6ft 3. They have won

9 Olympic golds, 12 European titles

and now their third world title. But

it’s not just the men who impressed,

for the woman’s team also

managed to win the bronze in

Barcelona.

After narrowly missing out on the

Leading from the Front

The Legendary Magyars


Back on top – the

Hungarians came

back remarkably

quickly after their

losses at London

2012

final (in a close fought game against

the eventual winners Spain),

Hungary’s women had a point to

prove in their match against Russia.

They showed their mettle and got

their revenge in beating Russia in a

replay of the world league semi-final

previously this year.

The Russians started strongly

leading 2-0 and 3-1. But Hungary

fought back to level the scores after

the first period. The scores were

still tied at the third quarter, until

Hungary scored two quick

consecutive goals to give them a 9-

7 lead. Russia quickly replied with a

goal from Olga Bevola. A few 22

seconds later Orsolya Takacs

scored to put the game to bed and

ended a fantastic contest.

“My team was physically and

mentally strong after the semi-final

loss against Spain and we

deserved the victory. The girls

played as a team, as a unity,” said

Hungary’s head coach Andras

Meresz.

To finish it off, Lieke Klaasen

played especially well to receive the

award for top scorer (25). After

narrowly missing out in both

London and Beijing it was

Hungary’s turn to taste some

victory.

But will their luck run out? Who

knows. We can only wait and watch

to see if the legendary Magyars can

make the 4 years from London to

Rio golden years, replicating their

success everywhere. AM

The title given back to whom it should belong…or that’s certainly how the Magyars feel about it.


Interview: ROWENA WEBSTER (AUS)

Dubbed the ‘Star of the

Stingers’, London 2012 bronze

and BCN2013 Silver medalist

Rowena Webster has pretty

ambitious goals set for herself.

Raised in bush-fire prone state of

Victoria in Australia, her dream after

she finishes her water polo career is

to become a firefighter. Yet, before

she starts that new chapter in her

life, as the eldest of the Aussie

Stingers team at 25, she also wants

to win the ultimate Olympic crown in

Rio 2016.

Since her breakthrough into senior

international level polo in 2008, she

has amassed a fine collection of

medals from the most prestigious of

tournaments – but one still is not in

her grasp. Come summer 2016,

Rowena Webster believes that will

change.

“My ambition is to be the best in the

world,” she said. “I want to be

among the world’s best attackers

and also be a dominant force in

defense.” And no doubt she is doing

that. But in order to hear the

Australian national anthem being

played and stand “alongside the 12

other girls with linked arms, who

have been on the journey,” she will

need to prove herself all over again.

She did in 2013, so why not 3 years

later…?

Rowie, as she likes to be known, is

currently finishing her physical

education teaching degree at

Deakin University, Melbourne while

she juggles water polo training and

working as a receptionist at the

Victorian Institute of Sport.

Coming from Victoria, which,

compared to other states like

Queensland or New South Wales is

not a water polo power-house,

meaning, as Rowie put it, “We just

don’t have the depth of talent other

states have.”

But, nonetheless, Rowie made it to

the Aussie Stingers team which

makes her very proud. And so she

should be as since her London

2012 experience, she is only going

from strength to strength in all areas

of the game.

“When Rowie first joined the team,

she was mainly known for her

strong shot. She wasn’t a very good

defender. Now I believe she is close

to being the best all round player in

the world,” said coach McFadden.

So maybe she can get to the top of

the podium in Rio. At least one thing

is certain in her life, as her tattoo

says – ‘One life, no regrets’ AM


Rowena Webster (AUS)

tackles Anna Espar

(ESP) during the closing

stages of the women’s

water polo gold medal

match.


DIVING

GERMANY’S TRIUMPH

In Barcelona, the German

Swimming Federation’s dream to

win a world title was realized.

Sascha Klein and Patrik

Hausding finally put an end to the

Germans’ misery and left their

mark in the history books.

Only one German has ever

managed a diving world title but

Christa Kohler took the victory in

Belgrade in 1973, competing for the

former Germany, GDR not GER as

we know the country today.

In Beijing 2008, it was Mathew

Mitcham of Australia who caused

the upset by taking the crown from

the hosts at the Water Cube. Come

Barcelona 2013, it was the German

pair who caused the upset denying

the Chinese of another set of gold

medals.

The duo scored a total of 461.46,

beating Russia into second place

(Victor Minibaev and Artem

Chesakov scored 445.950). To top

it, Klein and Hausding also shoved

Olympic Champions Yuan Cao and

Yanquang Zhang into the bronze

medal position, inflicting a rather

painful defeat on the Chinese after

they only managed a 445.56.

“So we have made history”

remarked a victorious Sascha Klein

when he heard about their

performance. Long time synchro

partner Hausding was in a similar

state of shock after their dive into

the history books; “I don’t usually

look at the scoreboard” was all he

could manage while he and his

partner digested their success.

“It’s crazy – we’re World

Champions. Nothing else matters

now,” said the pair. It seems that

the experience of the two put

together - one a multiple World

Series medalist and the other an

eight-time European Champion has

paid off at last.

Although everything came together

on the day, their preparations had

been anything but easy. A year after

London 2012, Sascha Klein had a

very rollercoaster year-at first it was

his elbow playing up. Then an

inflammation of the inner ear, then

issues with his back. It was a

miracle that they even got to train

synchro diving. It was only a day

before the World Championships

the Klein felt better enough to

compete. Not only had he missed

chunks of training, but

“We’re World Champions

now. Nothing else matters”

Despite injuries, victory!


Sascha Klein reached

the highest heights

with Hausding in

Barcelona.

he also missed many of the diving

world series events.

To add insult to injury for the pair,

Hausding had repeated knee

problems in the lead up to

BCN2013, until he developed

tendinitis in his left biceps which

caused him to miss his individual

platform event.

According to Lutz Buschkow, the

Head diving Coach to German

Diving, none of the performances

would have been possible without

the wonders worked by their

support staff. He said later on, “The

performance of our medical

department was simply

phenomenal.” Also helping the

athletes were their coaches, offering

support where they could hoping

the best for their athlete for an

athlete-coach relationship is a very

fragile yet loving thing. Perhaps this

was the key to their rapid recovery.

After his (surprise) victory in the

synchro, Sascha Klein kept riding

the wave and with 508.55 points,

had the opportunity to step on that

podium once more but this time with

a bronze medal. Incidentally,

London 2012 Champion David

Boudia (USA) finished second with

517.40 and the defending World

Champion, Qui Bo (CHN), perhaps

as consolation for his Olympic run

where he did not manage to take

the gold, was in a class of his own,

scooping the title with an easy

581.00 points.

Although Barcelona was an

excellent meet for Klein, his age,

which most people would call

young, is catching up with him in

this young people’s sport. “Diving is

a tough sport and my bones are not

getting any younger” remarked a

reflective and pensive Klein. “It’s getting increasingly difficult to keep up

with the world’s best but somehow I just keep getting there.” AM

Another medal for Klein


Marco Koch (GER) on top of the world this summer past.

Interview: ORLANDO DUQUE (COL)

High Diving made its

debut in Barcelona this

year…and it looks as if it

will stay.

He is the 38 year-old

Columbian who lives in Hawaii

and stopped doing ‘normal’ pool

diving to pursue what he calls a

‘more natural form of diving.’

Orlando Duque came to

Barcelona with one goal in mind,

to win, and he accomplished it.

According to him, when asked how

he got into the sport, “when you

dive into a pool, it gets a bit boring

after a while. All the pools look the

same and you want to look for

something different. Then you start

thinking of diving a bit higher, then a

gain a bit higher and then you end

up doing the 27m platform. It’s kind

of a new challenge. This was the

case with me,” reflects the high

diver who has won nine ‘World

Championship titles’ in cliff diving,

some at the prestigious Red Bull

Cliff Diving World series.

In the second week of competition

in Barcelona at the FINA press

conference, Duque explained the

two main issues with high diving.

“There are two problems: the entry

in the water and getting disoriented

in the air. The first one is clearly

vital, as we reach a very high

acceleration and if you don’t enter

the water in a vertical position, it will

hurt a lot,” he said. However to him,

the benefits clearly outweighs the

difficulties as he outlined next; “The

feeling in the air must be like the

one a dog is experiencing when it

has its head out of a window of a

moving car. We feel the air, the sun

and the water approaching fast.

Those are three seconds of plenty

of nice sensations!”

Diving is definitely a sport where

injuries occur a lot. And therefore,

almost unsurprisingly, Duque dove

in Barcelona with an ankle injury

(this time caused by skydiving not

high diving) but still managed to get

the gold, Columbia’s first at a World

Championships scoring 590.20.

Asked about his emotions on the

dive, he recalls, “It was quite hard

for me – I had surgery in November,

I was out of the water until March,”

but it seems he still felt well enough

to dive.

“The pressure is huge!” he

exclaimed. “But I stayed steady,

consistent and, despite mistakes in

my second dive I managed to get

the gold!”

He finally ended the questions on a

last positive note - “It’s huge…it

feels so great.” AM



SYNCHRO

THE QUEENS OF BARCELONA Before the swimming even

started at the Palau Sant Jordi,

Russia made their second clean

sweep of gold medals in the

synchro events at the FINA World

Championships, also managing

to snatch the competition’s best

team trophy from the grasp of

their rivals. China won 4 silver

medals in solo and duet and

hosts Spain walked home with 3

silver and 4 bronze in their

pockets.

Russia’s 24 year-old triple Olympic

Champion Svetlana Romashina

was dubbed the “Tsarina” of

BCN2013 after her beautiful

performances in the free and solo

technical events. Romanisha won

her first solo crown, following in the

footsteps of what some people see

as her mentor, Natalia Ishchenko,

the most decorated synchro

swimmer in history.

On Day 1, Romashina started her

bid for World Championship

medals, bagging the gold after

getting a score of 96.800. Then, on

Day 4, the Russian continued her

medal bid, clinching gold in the solo

free, securing the third consecutive

win for Russia in this event as

Romashina danced on the water to

a Marilyn Monroe song.

China’s Xuechen Huang placed

second and local girl Ona Carbonell

placed third in both solo events.

In many ways, Carbonell’s

performance echoed that of Gemma

Mengual, Spanish synchro swimmer

who made her mark more than a

decade ago claiming Spain’s first

medal at this international level. “It’s

very exciting to compete here after

Spain’s first success, because we

are at home, I felt the support in the

crowd,” remarked a smiling

Carbonell.

Her moving routine paid tribute to

the home Olympics in 1992, making

it even more special for the

Barcelona based Carbonell. A

routine where she swam with the

soprano Montserrat, Freddie

Mercury being the backdrop for

Cabelle’s duet touched the judges

who duly rewarded her with a score

of 94.290.

On Day 2, Romashina teamed up

with her new partner Svetlana

Kloesnichenko in the duet tech

Romashina, the

Golden Girl of Synchro

Echoes of the Past The double Svetlanas


The whole Russian team

romped to victory in

Barcelona. No doubt they

will be even better in

Kazan 2015 in front of a

home crowd.


routine, ended up winning it, and

thus making this Russia’s tenth

world title in the event since they

first won it in 1998. The pair scored

a 97.300.

Previously winning this event in

2009 with Anastasia Davidova and

in 2011 with Ischenko, this crown at

Barcelona will be her third.

Commenting on her new partner,

Romashina said, “We felt

comfortable from the very first day

we started training together. I’m

very happy to partner with her.” She

added, “We never had any

conflicts....she’s very calm.”

The medals she has won so far,

including those from Barcelona,

total to a magnificent 15.

Romashina currently sits third in the

all-time synchro medal winners list

with only her former teammates

Davydova (18 medals) and

Ishchenko (19 medals) standing in

her way until she is in a league of

her very own.

Her incredible record so far

compromises nothing but gold. AM

Interview: SVETLANA ROMASHINA (RUS)

She has become the

Olympic Champion 3 times, the

World Champion 15 times, the

European Champion 5 times. At

the Palau Sant Jordi, Svetlana

Romashina, on her first attempt

at the solo event, struck gold.

Possibly the best at synchro overall

in the world right now, and yet most

sports fan don’t even know her

name, let alone recognize her face.

But, she doesn’t seem to mind too

much, “why should I mind? In a way

it’s an advantage – I don’t have to

waste my energy on that. I never

cared much about it.”

Perhaps not noticed by the majority

of sports fans around the world,

thanks to her international

successes, now the only one on her

team with that many titles. “It’s nice

on the one hand,” she said. “On the

other, I miss the girls whom I

I spent most of my career. Natalia

Ishchenko in particular. She

became my family, person I spent

more time with throughout the years

than with my real family.”

Unknown to most people, being in a

synchro team and not being the top

girl can be tough. Only that top

athlete from each country can

perform in the solo and the duet,

thought to be the events which

determine the ‘face’ of the team.

So when Romashina first joined the

team in 2005, at the age of 15, she

was very much the ‘new girl’, while

Ishchenko, her future partner, was

the, ‘face’ of the team. “I was never

jealous about Natalia Ishchenko,”

she reminisces, “you see, when you

work in the group sometimes you

get a feeling you are the most

hardworking people around. Just

imagine the pressure those who

participate in both solo and duet are

under.”

Since Ishchenko’s retirement after

London 2012, Romashina has now

moved in to take her place. Maybe

Romashina had not expected this

as part of her future plans, but she

commented, “frankly, Natasha and I

only started discussing our future

only after the London Olympics. We

had no strength to think about

anything but the practices before

that. And Ishchenko has not retired

yet. She just took a break.”

One wonders if synchro wasn’t an

Olympic sport, would the athletes

train and scare themselves so much

for a rather less known sport? To

this she answered, “Everyone works

so hard. I don’t know how they can

motivate themselves to work so

hard without having the highest

goal.” AM


The new star of the

Russian team: Svetlana

Romashina has reached

the highest heights in

synchro.

Pieter van den HOOGENBAND

(NED)

PAST HEROES



Pieter van den HOOGENBAND (NED)

When, back before the

London Olympics in Eindhoven

at the European Water Polo

Championships at the pool

named after him – the Pieter van

den Hoogenband Swim Stadium,

he looked very much the same as

in his heyday when the Thorpe-

Hoogenband rivalry was at its

peak.

Training with Gennady Touretsky,

the former Soviet coach who

propelled the legendary Alexsandr

Popov and Michael Klim to great

heights around the time of the turn

of the millennium now was coaching

arch-rival Ian Thorpe for a

comeback after he retired shortly

after the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The question put forward was

simple – Thorpie has returned; what

about you?

Apparently, the answer to him was

just as simple. “Oh, no, no way. I

wish Ian all the best; he is a

wonderful guy, a great swimmer

who deserves the attention. It’s

great he is back, but for me it was

over a long time ago,” he said.

“Returning has never crossed my

mind.”

In fact Hoogie, as he used to be

called in the good old days of

swimming, had not hit a racing pool

since he quit after the 2008 Beijing

Olympics. Perhaps it brings back

memories he would rather keep to

himself.

The times he does swim are when

he is with family, during holidays

mostly in the sea. “This doesn’t

mean I hate the water. No, my love

for it never ceased, its touch still

feels great.” After he finally hung up

his swimsuit, having made the

Olympic final in the 100m freestyle

for the fourth time at Beijing 2008,

he stayed in the aquatics world for

one year before trading his goggles

for a bike to stay in shape.

Today he runs his own business

which helps other companies to be

better, applying what he learnt in

swimming at the very top to the rest

of the world much like how his

father, now the Chairman of the

FINA Sports Medicine Committee,

initiated the “Let Pieter swim faster”

program, building up a team around

him. The team was made up from

the best of what sport could offer –

Pieter had a nutritionist that

originated from speed skating, the

dry-land trainer came from

basketball and the best weightlifting

coach was plucked from football.

And the results were phenomenal.

When asked which his best triumph

was, he picks the titles in Athens as

his favourite of the three Olympic

crowns he won. “Without question it

was the best of all. Winning two

gold medals in Sydney was natural

for me. I couldn’t imagine it any

other way. But I had to overcome a

handful of problems afterwards, a

hernia was the worst one, so

recovering from it and getting

through everything and finally

reaching the top again in 2004 was

a huge relief. I never felt the same

before…”

Calling it a day is not easy for most

great athletes, alas we saw Boris

Becker go through a very tough

time after his career came to a

close, yet Pieter seemed to have

taken it all in his stride. “For me, it

has never been a problem that I

cannot be the best in the world any

more. I knew that I had to start a

new chapter in my life. And I enjoy it

very much. I don’t have to train six

hours a day but I have plenty of new

challenges, new targets, I have a

great family, two children- what else

would I need?”

To him, although he never really

had an idol, it was America’s loss to

Anthony Nesty in the 100m butterfly

at the 1988 Seoul Games that

influenced him the most. “That told

me that, hey, you don’t have to

come from the US to become an

Olympic Champion. You can do it

even if you were born in such a

small country as Surinam. Or the

Netherlands…”

Although luck was strangely never

on his side at the FINA World

Championships not winning a single

gold, at the Olympics, he did bag 3

gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze between

2000 and 2004. Now he has

different ambitions: “I hope we will

have looked back on an Olympic Games in Holland organized with big

success. And im heading a successful company and enjoying watching

my kids raised.”

We wish him the best of luck on a new chapter in his life. AM



FINA NEWS UPCOMING FINA EVENTS:

2013

05 OCTOBER 2013 - FINA 10 KM MARATHON SWIMMING WORLD CUP 2013 - HONG KONG (HKG)

12 OCTOBER 2013 - FINA SWIMMING WORLD CUP 2013 - MOSCOW (RUS)

17 OCTOBER 2013 - FINA SWIMMING WORLD CUP 2013 - DUBAI (UAE)

20 OCTOBER 2013 - FINA SWIMMING WORLD CUP 2013 - DOHA (QAT)

05 NOVEMBER 2013 - FINA SWIMMING WORLD CUP 2013 - SINGAPORE (SIN)

09 NOVEMBER 2013 FINA SWIMMING WORLD CUP 2013 - TOKYO (JPN)

12 NOVEMBER 2013 - FINA MEN'S WATER POLO WORLD LEAGUE 2014 - EUROPE PRELIMINARY ROUND 1ST MATCH -

VARIOUS CITIES

13 NOVEMBER 2013 - FINA SWIMMING WORLD CUP 2013 - BEIJING (CHN)

19 NOVEMBER 2013 - FINA WOMEN'S WATER POLO WORLD LEAGUE 2014 - EUROPE PRELIMINARY ROUND 1ST MATCH

- VARIOUS CITIES

29 NOVEMBER 2013 - 8TH FINA SYNCHRONISED SWIMMING WORLD TROPHY 2013 - MEXICO CITY (MEX)

10 DECEMBER 2013 - FINA MEN'S WATER POLO WORLD LEAGUE 2014 - EUROPE PRELIMINARY ROUND 2ND MATCH -

VARIOUS CITIES

17 DECEMBER 2013 - FINA WOMEN'S WATER POLO WORLD LEAGUE 2014 - EUROPE PRELIMINARY ROUND 2ND MATCH

- VARIOUS CITIES

2014

16 AUGUST 2014 – 2nd YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES – NANJING (CHN)

28 AUGUST 2014 – 2nd FINA WORLD JUNIOR OWS CHAMPIONSHIPS – EILAT (ISR)

8 SEPTEMBER 2014 – 20th FINA JUIOR DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS – PENZA (RUS)

22 OCTOBER 2014 – 14th FINA WORLD JUNIOR SYNCHRO CHAMPIONSHIPS – TAMPERE (FIN)

29 NOVEMBER 2014 – FINA AQUATICS WORLD CONVENTION – DOHA (QAT)

3 DECEMBER 2014 – 12th FINA SC WORLD SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS – DOHA (QAT)

2015

19 JULY 2015 – 16th FINA LC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – KAZAN (RUS)

FINA NEWS CHANGE OF NATIONALITY:

Ms. Ellen GANDY: From Great Britain to Australia.

Ms. Uschi FREITAG: From Germany to Netherlands.

Mr. Gavrll SUBOTIC: From Montenegro to Serbia.

Mr. Sasa MISIC: From FYR Macedonia to Montenegro.

Mr. Ugo CROUSILLAT: From France to Montenegro

DOPING OFFENCES:

Tudor DOBRE (ROU): May 12 2013, tested positive to substance THC/Cannabis (Class S.8 Cannabinioids) following a doping test at the

National Water Polo Competitions in Romania. Starting June 11 2013, the athlete has a period of 6 months ineligibility.

Nikita MAKSIMOV (RUS): March 3 2013, tested positive to substance Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (Class S.1.1.a Exogenous Anabolic

Androgenic Steroids) following an out of competition doping test in Krugloe (RUS). Starting April 4 2013, the athlete has a period of 2 years

ineligibility.

Anita STEPANENKO (EST): May 24 2013, tested positive to substance Stanozolol (Class S.1.1.a Exogenous Anabolic Androgenic Steroids)

following a doping test at the Estonian-Finnish competitions in Tallinn (EST). Starting July 23 2013, the athlete has a period of 1 year

ineligibility.

Following a hearing, it has been established that the coach of Anita STEPANEKO, Nikolai BORZOV (EST) had administered the

prohibited substance in his swimmer’s drink without notifying the athlete. Starting July 23 2013, the coach has a period of lifetime ineligibility.

Jakub JONCZYK (POL): June 15 2013, tested positive to substance Methylhexaneamine (Class S.86.b Specified Stimulants) following a

doping test at the Polish Championships in Olsztyn, Poland. Starting June 15 2013, the athlete has a period of 1 year ineligibility.

Alexandr RAZDROBENKO (BLR): August 17 2012, tested positive to substance Clenbuterol (Class S.1.2 Other Anabolic Agents) following

an out of competition doping test. Starting August 17 2013, the athlete had a period of 1 year ineligibility.

Following reports which were confirmed, it was revealed that the athlete took part in national level competitions and thus violated

FINA DC Rule 10.5.2. Consequently the period of ineligibility has restarted from February 2013.

BIDS FOR 2015 FINA EVENTS:

FOR THE FOLLOWING EVENTS, BIDS MUST BE PRESENTED NO LATER THAN 31 DECEMBER 2013.

2015 EVENTS:

2015 - 11th FINA WORLDJUNIOR WOMEN’S WATER POLO CHAMPS (20 & U).

2015 – 18th FINA WORLD JUNIOR MEN’S WATER POLO CHAMPS (20 & U).

2015 – FINA SYNCHRO WORLD TROPHY.



FINA NEWS

BIDS FOR 2016 FINA EVENTS:

FOR THE FOLLOWING EVENTS, BIDS MUST BE PRESENTED NO LATER THAN 31 DECEMBER 2013.

2016 EVENTS:

2016 - 15th FINA WORLD JUNIOR SYNCHRO CHAMPS.

2016 – 3rd FINA WORLD YOUTH MEN’S WATER POLO CHAMPS (18 & U).

2016 – 3rd FINA WORLD YOUTH WOMEN’S WATER POLO CHAMPS (18 & U).

2016 – 3rd FINA WORLD JUNIOR OPEN WATER SWIMMING CHAMPS.

2016 – OLYMPIC MARATHON SWIMMING QUALIFIER.

2016 – OLYMPIC GAMES WOMEN’S WATER POLO QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT.

2016 – OLYMPIC GAMES MEN’S WATER POLO QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT.

FINA STRUCTURE:

FINA BUREAU 2013 -2017

President: Dr Julio C. Maglione (URU) [email protected]

Honorary Secretary: Paolo Barelli (ITA) [email protected]

Honorary Treasurer: Pipat Paniangvait (THA) [email protected]

Vice Presidents: Husain Al Musallam (KUW), Tamas Gyarfas (HUN), Dennis Miller (FIJ), Dale Neuberger (USA),

Sam Ramsamy (RSA)

Members: Fernando Carpena (ESP), Errol Clarke (BAR), Dimitris Diathesopoulos (GRE), Dr. Mohamed Diop

(SEN), Matthew Dunn (AUS). Ben Ekumbo (KEN). Erik van Heijningen (NED), Andrey Kryulov (KAZ), Lino Candido

Lourenco (ANG), Eugenio Martinez (CUB), Jesus Mena (MEX), Dr. Margo Mountjoy (CAN), Coaracy Nunes Fihlo

(BRA), Vladimir Salnikov (RUS), Kazuo Sano (JPN), Qiuping Zhang (CHN).

Honorary Life President: Mustapha Larfaoui (ALG) [email protected]

Honorary Members: Gennady Aleshin (RUS), Rafael Blanco (ESP), Bartolo Consolo (ITA), Eldon C. Godfrey

(CAN), Nory Kruchten (LUX), Francis Lyuce (FRA), Guillermo Martinez (CUB), Chief Olatokumbo Thomas (NGR),

Gunnar Werner (SWE).

Executive Director: Cornel Marculescu

For information on the structures of the FINA Technical Committees, please visit fina.org

mailto:[email protected]




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