LONDON: Russia extended its dominance in synchronised swimming on Friday, winning the team gold medal at the London Olympics – its fourth consecutive team victory and sixth overall gold.
The Russians totalled 197.030 points with a free routine featuring swimmers doing acrobatic flips and pirouetting like ballerinas above the water.
The team of Anastasia Davydova, Maria Gromova, Natalia Ishchenko, Elvira Khasyanova, Alexandra Patskevich, Svetlana Romashina, Anzhelika Timanina and Alla Shishkina swam in black, red and gold suits featuring a spider web design on the back.
The Russians swam, flipped and kicked their way through the songs “War” and “Step” by Denis Garnizov. Their height, speed and synchronisation were superior to the others.
China earned the silver at 194.010, edging Spain by 0.89 point. The Spanish settled for the bronze at 193.120 four years after winning silver in Beijing.
Wearing hot pink, purple and white suits, the Chinese marched in lockstep onto the deck. With their dramatic “Butterfly” music under way, they flipped one swimmer in the air.
Moments later, another swimmer was flipped horizontally, and she rolled multiple times like a log before hitting the water. Two swimmers flipped in opposite directions, drawing cheers.
The Spanish evoked the outrageous costumes favored by Cher in the 1970s with their silver mirrored suits and matching caps that shimmered in and out of the water. (AP)