The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesAugust 8-24 2008
(BEIJING, August 19) -- Russia moves into the Synchronized Swimming Duet final at the National Aquatics Center at 3:00 p.m. (UTC/GMT+8) August 20 after finishing first in the preliminary competition.
Twelve countries will perform their Free Routine in the final. Their score will be combined with that of their Technical Routine, which they performed on August 18.
The Russian duo of Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova delivered a near-perfect Technical Routine on August 18 scoring 49.334, a half point lead over Spain going into the final. Their Free Routine earned a score of 49.500 in the preliminary competition on August 19, a decisive 0.416 points ahead of second-placed Spain. They have a good chance to win gold in the final of Duet competition.
Spain's Gemma Mengual and Andrea Fuentes finished second with 49.084 in the Free Routine. They pride themselves on their artistic ability and remain confident of conquering Russia's pre-existing 0.500 point lead.
Japan has won a medal in Synchronized Swimming at every Olympic Games, and is the reigning Asian champion. The Japanese duo and the Chinese twins tied with a Free Routine score of 48.500 in the preliminary, but Japan holds onto a slim 0.166 buffer due to a superior Technical Routine score.
China's Free Routine is called 'Que Yue' (literally meaning 'little birds jumping and flying happily') and contains a move that only Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen can perform. They create a square with their legs above the water - a move that usually requires four synchronized swimmers to perform.
