And then the competition began. European Synchro is very strong although there was some disappointment that Russia (the current Olympic Champions) had withdrawn from duet and team events through illness. Russia has dominated world synchro for many years but Spain has been catching up and are leading the world in creativity and innovation and we were all looking forward to seeing them battle it out for the title. In the solo event, the final was almost too close to call and Gemma Mengual from Spain beating Natalia Ischenko from Russia by just 0.100 of a mark.
The solo medallists:
Great Britain competed in the solo and duet events. Jenna Randall and Olivia Allison have been training as full time athletes at the High Performance Centre for athletes since January 2006. The improvement was evident for all to see and they moved up 4 places from 2 years ago, finishing 9th in the both events.
As a judged sport, one of the most frequently asked questions relates to whether judges are biased or not. FINA (the International Swimming Federation) have been putting measures in place to eliminate bias and all international judges now have to attend ‘Judge School’ once every 2 years. The organisers and referees of the competition assess the performance of the judges throughout the preliminary rounds and only the best judges, with no bias are selected for finals. With extremely hot conditions in the pool, long periods of concentration needed the pressure of ensuring every mark is correct it can become intense. But the competition finally ended and we could all enjoy a more relaxing time at the post-competition party.
And then it was all over. As we said our goodbyes, the focus already is turning to the Olympic qualifiers, in Beijing. As the Synchro event is a one of several test events, I am hoping to encourage a couple of London 2012 colleagues who are travelling out to learn from our colleagues in the Beijing Organising Committee to come along and support the British athletes in their attempt to qualify for their first Olympic Games since 1996 (and to watch me judge!).
