FUKUOKA, Japan, July 17 (Xinhua) — Spain’s Fernando Diaz Del Rio Soto grew to become the primary male solo winner in creative swimming as China saved their dream of a second consecutive clear sweep of diving golds alive on the World Aquatics Championships right here on Monday.
The 20-year-old Soto scored 224.555 factors to win the debutante solo technical occasion, adopted by American Kenneth Gaudet on 216.8000 factors and Kazakhstan’s Eduard Kim on 216.000.
Male swimmers have competed within the blended occasions for years however it’s the first time for World Aquatics to introduce males’s solo occasions and blended group occasion, the acrobatic, to this 12 months’s World Championships.
“I think it is something that only after a few days I will really understand what is happening,” stated Soto of the landmark victory. “I feel so relieved and happy that the result of so much work has arrived. It is a very gratifying feeling. I’m still in shock. I cannot believe it.”
China’s Shi Haoyu, the one male swimmer within the Chinese group, grew to become the day’s different fortunate winner. China, consisting of 1 man and 7 girls, scored 238.0033 factors for the group acrobatic gold medal.
The United States took silver on 232.4033 and Japan completed third on 220.5867. The United States and Japan every had a feminine member.
“Our performance today is nearly perfect,” stated Shi. “We are completely immersed in the show and I think everybody has performed their best.”
Artistic swimming was added in 1984 to the Olympic program in Los Angeles, however solely girls had been allowed to compete. In 2015, the world championships launched the blended duet occasion.
Last December, World Aquatics stated that males will likely be allowed to compete in Olympic creative swimming from the 2024 Games onward.
The day’s two diving gold medals had been each awarded to the all-conquering Chinese group, which has elevated their title to seven.
Chang Yani accomplished a hat-trick of world titles within the girls’s three-meter synchronized springboard along with her companion Chen Yiwen whereas Lian Junjie and Yang Hao retained the lads’s 10-meter synchronized platform gold.
China, who swept all 13 diving gold medals in final 12 months’s Budapest worlds, is on monitor to repeat that efficiency this 12 months.