(Montreal) After achieving a personal best at the World Aquatic Sports Championships last Saturday in the technical solo final with a sixth place, artistic swimmer Audrey Lamothe did it again on Wednesday in Fukuoka, Japan, this time with a fourth place in the of the free solo final, a new mark for the 18-year-old athlete.
During the preliminary round, Lamothe was able to carve out a place among the top 12 thanks to his 167,3625 points. The Quebecer did not miss the opportunity to shine in the final of the event.
Performing under the Fleshtones’ song Roman Gods, Lamothe impressed the judges with the quality of his performance. She got 207,4480 points, which was good for the provisional first place when she came out of the water.
“My goal was just to do a routine with no point deductions. I have achieved this goal and I am very happy about it. I think my overall result, especially in terms of my execution, is very satisfying, it’s a great way to end my Worlds,” Lamothe said in an interview with Sportcom.
In the end, four athletes who had finished ahead of Lamothe in the qualifications were unable to beat her in the final, which allowed her to take fourth place for the very first time in her career at the Senior World Championships. .
“The more the competition progressed, the more I saw certain swimmers doing worse than me. I was happy with my grade, but to finish with such a good result in the standings is really a nice little bonus. »
Japan’s Yukiko Inui took top honors with 254,6062 points. She was accompanied on the podium by Austrian Vasiliki Alexandri (229,3251 points) and Briton Kate Shortman (219,9542), silver and bronze medalists respectively.
This fourth place, one year from the Paris Olympics, means a lot to Lamothe. The Quebecer is satisfied with this important step, but intends to continue working hard to reach the top of her form in the French capital.
“It proves to me that the work is worth it!” I will definitely continue to work harder and harder to achieve my future goals and achieve great things,” concluded Lamothe.
Diver Caeli McKay earned the first medal of her career at the World Championships finishing third in the 10m platform in Fukuoka, Japan on Wednesday with a total of 340.25 points.
Fifth in the previous day’s semi-final, McKay started his day strong, collecting 76.50 points in the curtain raiser. She then showed consistency to carve out a place on the third step of the podium.
McKay put an exclamation mark on her day on her very last dive where she earned 76.80 points, her best score of the day.
“I’m really proud of myself, it’s a roller coaster of emotions. As soon as I woke up this morning, I felt confident and knew I had what it takes to succeed. I felt like I had nothing to lose and gave it my all on the platform,” McKay mentioned.
Seventeen-year-old Chinese Yuxi Chen (457.85 points) won the gold medal ahead of her compatriot Hongchan Quan (445.60 points), who finished second.
This is the first medal for McKay at an edition of the World Championships, she who had twice finished in fourth place in 2019 and 2017 in the synchro events.
Canada had the daunting task of facing the mighty Italians in their second preliminary round match at the World Water Polo Championships in Fukuoka. The Italians took an early lead 6-0 in the first quarter and they never looked back again, eventually winning 24-6.
All six of Canada’s goals came in the second and third quarters. Nicolas Constantin-Bicari had a hat trick, Matthew Halajian added a brace and Jérémie Côté completed the scoring for the Canadians, who had won their opener 13-10 against the Chinese team.
“The Italians are vice-world champions, we expected a very difficult match. We would have liked to be better at the start of the match to keep the Italians closer in scoring. We turn the page and keep moving forward. We have important games ahead and we have to be ready,” commented team captain Jérémie Blanchard.
Aleksa Gardijan, Aria Soleimanipak, Leo Hachem, Nikos Gerakoudis, David Lapins and Milan Radenovic are the other Quebecers on the Canadian men’s team for this edition of the world aquatic sports.
Radenovic and Saskatchewan’s Brody McKnight shared the job in the Canadian net, blocking five shots.
Canada will face France on Friday.
