USA Eyes Super World Series Finish at Super Final
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by Alyssa Jacobs, USA Artistic Swimming
After three World Series stops during 2022, USA is ready to compete at the FINA Super Final in Athens this weekend. Earlier this year the national team participated in two virtual competitions and one in-person outing in Paris that has led to the final meet of the series. The Super Final competition will serve as excellent preparation for the upcoming World Championships and allow the squad another opportunity to showcase their continued growth. Points collected from finishes at each of the World Series stops will be combined with the results of the Super Final to crown overall winners in every category and determine prize money recipients.
The event kicks off Friday, May 20th with the male solo, women solo and team technical competition. Anita Alvarez will make her season debut, her first competition since Tokyo because of her preseason injury, as technical soloist to begin the competition with a 6:45 a.m. PT start time. She’ll swim fourth of 12 competitors. She ended her last solo competition with a career high 88.1332 in free at the 2021 Super Final. Strong competitors in the field of competition include Austria’s Vasiliki Alexandri and Germany’s Marlene Bojer. Kenny Gaudet will be making his international solo career debut with a much-anticipated routine choreographed by Anna Voloshyna. Gaudet will swim second in a field of four competitors beginning at 7:45 a.m. PT. Finally, the team will get another chance to showcase their Michael Jackson technical routine beginning at 7:45 a.m. PT. The team will swim first of four nations competing in the category.
Saturday will host the women solo and male solo free and women and mixed duet technical categories. Alvarez and Gaudet will again represent USA as soloists, with Alvarez swimming fourth of 16 and Gaudet swimming second of four. The women’s solo free competition will be the largest category of the weekend and Alvarez will face seasoned competitors in her second performance of the weekend. Still, since her injury Alvarez has been working tirelessly on both solo programs and will certainly put on a show in Greece. The solo competition begins at 3:00 a.m. PT for females and 4:15 a.m. for males. Duets will follow shortly after, with Dani Ramirez competing in duet for the first time this season alongside Megumi Field at 6:15 a.m. and Claudia Coletti swimming the technical mixed duet for the first time with Gaudet at 7:30 a.m. PT. The team will not be performing their brand-new free team, instead electing to save the reveal for World Championship next month.
To close out the weekend, USA will be participating in the women and mixed duet free and highlight competitions on Sunday. Natalia Vega and Field will attempt to defend their undefeated status in the free category beginning at 3:30 a.m. PT while Coletti and Gaudet hope to continue their exciting momentum in the mixed category at 4:45 a.m.. The last event of the weekend will allow the national team to perform their cavepeople highlight routine that has had the artistic swimming community buzzing since its debut. Both duets will swim last and close out their categories and highlight will swim fifth of six. The highlight team last scored an 87.8000 at the Australia Virtual World Series filmed last month.
Keep up with results and streamling links by following us on our social media pages. For draws, schedules and more information about the event visit FINA's page HERE.
The event kicks off Friday, May 20th with the male solo, women solo and team technical competition. Anita Alvarez will make her season debut, her first competition since Tokyo because of her preseason injury, as technical soloist to begin the competition with a 6:45 a.m. PT start time. She’ll swim fourth of 12 competitors. She ended her last solo competition with a career high 88.1332 in free at the 2021 Super Final. Strong competitors in the field of competition include Austria’s Vasiliki Alexandri and Germany’s Marlene Bojer. Kenny Gaudet will be making his international solo career debut with a much-anticipated routine choreographed by Anna Voloshyna. Gaudet will swim second in a field of four competitors beginning at 7:45 a.m. PT. Finally, the team will get another chance to showcase their Michael Jackson technical routine beginning at 7:45 a.m. PT. The team will swim first of four nations competing in the category.
Saturday will host the women solo and male solo free and women and mixed duet technical categories. Alvarez and Gaudet will again represent USA as soloists, with Alvarez swimming fourth of 16 and Gaudet swimming second of four. The women’s solo free competition will be the largest category of the weekend and Alvarez will face seasoned competitors in her second performance of the weekend. Still, since her injury Alvarez has been working tirelessly on both solo programs and will certainly put on a show in Greece. The solo competition begins at 3:00 a.m. PT for females and 4:15 a.m. for males. Duets will follow shortly after, with Dani Ramirez competing in duet for the first time this season alongside Megumi Field at 6:15 a.m. and Claudia Coletti swimming the technical mixed duet for the first time with Gaudet at 7:30 a.m. PT. The team will not be performing their brand-new free team, instead electing to save the reveal for World Championship next month.
To close out the weekend, USA will be participating in the women and mixed duet free and highlight competitions on Sunday. Natalia Vega and Field will attempt to defend their undefeated status in the free category beginning at 3:30 a.m. PT while Coletti and Gaudet hope to continue their exciting momentum in the mixed category at 4:45 a.m.. The last event of the weekend will allow the national team to perform their cavepeople highlight routine that has had the artistic swimming community buzzing since its debut. Both duets will swim last and close out their categories and highlight will swim fifth of six. The highlight team last scored an 87.8000 at the Australia Virtual World Series filmed last month.
Keep up with results and streamling links by following us on our social media pages. For draws, schedules and more information about the event visit FINA's page HERE.
