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Synchronized swimming: Vasiliki Alexandri won EM bronze in freestyle

Synchronized swimming: Vasiliki Alexandri won EM bronze in freestyle

As on Friday in the technique, she also won bronze in the solo free program on Sunday. With 91.8333 points, Alexandri received a clear personal top rating. It was won by Ukraine’s Marta Fiedina (94.6333) ahead of Italy’s Linda Cerruti (92.1000). On Saturday, Anna-Maria/Eirini-Marina Alexandri won duet bronze.

“I’m very happy. It’s very important for me, over 91 points for the first time,” said Vasiliki Alexandri. “A judge told me that she even judged me first.” Finally making the breakthrough onto the international podium is very liberating. “We worked so long that we got over 90 points,” she said for her siblings. “It’s a different category, a different level. I’m incredibly happy and proud that we made it. I’m looking forward to the future.”

Alexandri clearly relegated the Greek Evangelia Platanioti (90.6000) to fourth place, much closer to silver than Blech. Her former compatriot was about 0.7 points ahead of the OSV athlete in third place after the preliminary fight. This clear reversal of the result is rare in synchronized swimming and is probably partly due to a posting by Plataniotis, in which she went on Saturday after the technical decision – she was fourth behind Alexandri there too – about the evaluation and the judges as well as videos posted by himself and Alexandri on the internet.

“I came to Rome to fight for gold because I know what I deserve,” wrote the 28-year-old. “But this result was shameful for the sport…” She presented the programs of herself and Alexandri and said that the cameraman had not shown a good element of her. Plataniotis: “I’m more than proud of my performance because I know my worth. Fair play is an unknown word in this sport.” Plataniotis had twice won World Cup bronze in June. At the time, Alexandri complained about the grading, but not as sharply and personally.

Of course, the reaction of her competitor did not go unnoticed by Alexandri either. “Everyone saw it and everyone speaks extremely badly about her because she spoke extremely badly about me,” explained the Südstadt athlete. “It’s not part of the sport, what she did. But that doesn’t interest me at all, I don’t care.” People would now support her even more than before. “Everyone wanted me to win the medal. People have been supporting us and me, especially since she made this post. It’s like the whole synchronized swimming world has my back.”

On Thursday in the preliminary fight, Alexandri was still severely weakened and feverish from angina and had not given her full performance. “I still felt a bit tired at the end of the program. But it was good.” And it wasn’t Alexandri’s first increase this year, at the World and European Championships she achieved personal best points in all seven appearances. At least for this time she had a simple explanation: “I wanted to swim well for myself, enjoy the last competition of the season, swim with my heart.”

Source: Nachrichten

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