The first leg of the inaugural edition of the FINA Synchronised Swimming World Series kicks off tomorrow,March 10, in Paris, with the presence of 23 national teams. The “Make Up for Ever” event, organised in the French capital until this Sunday, March 12, is already a consolidated competition, being staged in 2017 for the seventh time.
This was the principle guiding the launch of the FINA Synchronised Swimming World Series in 2017: take existing events in several locations and gather them under one single circuit, thus giving additional visibility and exposure to this spectacular discipline. Moreover, at the end of the seven-leg competition this year, the best teams will be awarded prize money in accordance with their rankings in the different events in each leg.
In his message to all participants in the series, the FINA President Dr. Julio C. Maglione considered: “We must not forget that synchronised swimming is one of the most popular sports at Olympic and World Championships’ level, being generally the first discipline having the entirety of the tickets sold for the on-site spectators! It is therefore undeniable the attractiveness of this discipline and the launch of these Series will be a fair reward for the effort and commitment of the entire synchro community.”
The programme of the competition in Paris (FRA) will unfold as follows:
Friday, March 10
Solo Technical (FINAL)
Duet Free + Duet Free mixed (Prelims)
Team Technical (FINAL)
Saturday, March 11
Solo Free (Prelims)
Duet Technical + Duet Technical mixed (FINAL)
Free Combination (FINAL)
Sunday, March 12
Solo Free (FINAL)
Duet Free + Duet Free mixed (FINAL)
Team Free (FINAL)
Exhibition Gala
The participating teams in this competition are: Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States and Uzbekistan.
Calendar of the 2017 FINA Synchronised Swimming World Series:
1. Paris (FRA) – March 10-12
2. Taiyuan (CHN) – April 22-24
3. Tokyo (JPN) – April 28-30
4. Toronto (CAN) – May 2-7
5. Las Palmas (ESP) – May 25-28
6. Long Island (USA) – June 22-24
7. Tashkent (UZB) – date to be confirmed
News courtesy of FINA.