October was filled with calendar and national team updates, new choreographies in the works, and a handful of retirements.

Back to the European Games

• Artistic swimming is back on the European Games programme. The 2023 edition of this multi-sport major event is hosted by Poland and the Kraków-Małopolska region. This competition will replace the European Cup, and should likely serve as the Europe Olympic qualifier for the 2024 Paris Games. The competition should run between June 21-25, but more details will be specified at a later date. Last time the sport was at the European Games was in 2015, where it was a junior-only event.

 

National Team Announcements

• Canada has announced its national team for the 2022-2023 season. All 12 athletes from last season are returning to the Montreal’s Institut National du Sport (INS). Five up-and-coming talents will also join the training group: Léonie Corbeil, Mya Fortin, Jonnie Newman, Florence Tremblay, and Olena Verbinska. Verbinska recently won bronze in duet and placed fourth in solo at the World Youth Championships. Corbeil, Fortin, Newman and Tremblay all competed at the World Junior Championships.

Time for new choreographies

• Stephan Miermont traveled to Athens to create two new routines for Greece‘s national team.
• Just like these last few years, Miermont is also collaborating with the Alexandri triplets from Austria. The sisters just traveled to California to fine-tune their new choreographies.
• Olga Pylypchuk has choreographed a new free duet for the Netherlands.
• Pylypchuk also headed to Portugal to create a new technical duet for Maria Goncalves and Cheila Vieira.

Retirements

• In case you missed it, Pau Ribes, a pioneer for artistic swimming in Spain, has retired.
• Domiziana Cavanna, a 2020 Olympian for Italy and multiple-time European and World medalist, has announced on her Instagram she was ending her career with the national team. She will continue competing domestically for her club.
• A few months ago, Russia‘s Veronika Kalinina revealed on Match TV she was done with the sport. Kalinina, a reserve for the 2020 Olympic team, is a five-time World Champion and three-time European Champion. She admitted she felt defeated after not swimming in Tokyo, but she had still started the training last fall. However, she quickly realized her heart wasn’t in it and that she was mentally done. She is now pursuing a professional career in astrology.
• Daisy Gunn, a member of Great Britain‘s senior national team since 2020, announced her retirement. Gunn recently competed at the World and European Championships as part of the team routines.

Men In Sync

• The short film Men In Sync will be released on November 4 on Vimeo. The documentary centers around Pau Ribes, Emma Garcia, and Bill May. Don’t miss it!

ARTICLE BY CHRISTINA MARMET

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