Sync Up: January 31, 2019

This year will see the first Super Final of the FINA ASWS circuit to be held in Budapest, Hungary, from June 14-16. The first 12 highest ranked nations in each event will be invited to attend this event, and the federations will continue to collect points at this competition. Additional prize money will be given to the six highest ranked federations in the Super Final. A bit more information about the Super Final is available in the ASWS Rulebook.

It seems like Anastasia Ermakova is creating choreographies for everybody this year! She spent 10 days in Montréal working with the Canadian national team ahead of the 2019 season. The new free team routine will revolve around the spectrum of time, while the technical routine will be set to traditional ethnic music.
Ukraine’s Anna Voloshyna, who missed the 2018 season and just gave birth to a baby girl, will coach and offer her technical expertise to the Mexican senior national team until February 20th, as the nation works to qualify as a team to the Olympics for the first time since 1996.
Japan will unveil a new free team routine choreographed by five-time Olympic medalist Miho Suzuki (née Takeda) this season. The nation already had a new free routine last season on the theme of ‘Happiness,’ but apparently decided to go for something new once again.
After working with the Portuguese duet, Virginie Dedieu is now helping out Germany’s duet of Marlene Bojer and Daniela Reinhardt.

2016 Olympian for Australia Danielle Kettlewell is back in the pool, this time in the hopes of competing in the mixed duet event with Ethan Calleja at the 2019 FINA World Championships. If selected, they would be the nation’s first mixed duet to compete at a major international meet.

This is a fun one. Spanish coaches Gemma Mengual and Paula Klamburg recreate a hybrid of the junior duet’s choreography on land, while swimmers Irene Jimeno and Mireia Hernandez work on it in the water.
Two-time Greek Olympian Evangelia Platanioti posted a few training highlights set to “Always Remember Us This Way” by Lady Gaga.
Vera Butsel from Belarus shows off a nice barracuda spin 720° (-ish).
The Slovakian duet of Nada Daabousova and Diana Miskechova got to perform to live music from the Györ Philharmonic Orchestra.
As noted above, Anna Voloshyna is in Mexico for a month. She took the opportunity to jump back in the water for the first time since giving birth.

The Russian national team is off to a three-weeks training camp in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Two-time Olympic champion and 13-time world champion from Russia Aleksandra Patskevich is pregnant! Congratulations to her.

Svetlana Romashina posted an adorable family photo on her Instagram account, including her daughter playing with her mother’s five Olympic gold medals. As every child does.

Inside Synchro