Synchronized swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the team event in women's synchronized swimming was contested. It was the first appearance of the team event, which replaced the duet and solo events held previously. (The duet event would return four years later.)

Synchronized swimming
at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad
Georgia Tech Aquatic Center
VenueGeorgia Tech Aquatic Center
Dates30 July – 2 August 1996
Competitors78 from 8 nations
Winning points99.720
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s)  United States (USA)
Suzannah Bianco, Tammy Cleland, Becky Dyroen-Lancer, Heather Pease, Jill Savery, Nathalie Schneyder, Heather Simmons-Carrasco, Jill Sudduth, Emily LeSueur, Margot Thien
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Canada (CAN)
Karen Clark, Sylvie Fréchette, Janice Bremner, Karen Fonteyne, Christine Larsen, Erin Woodley, Cari Read, Lisa Alexander, Valérie Hould-Marchand, Kasia Kulesza
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Japan (JPN)
Miya Tachibana, Akiko Kawase, Rei Jimbo, Miho Takeda, Raika Fujii, Miho Kawabe, Junko Tanaka, Riho Nakajima, Mayuko Fujiki, Kaori Takahashi
← 1992 (summary)
2000 (summary)
2000 (team) →

Eight countries qualified for the Olympic Games at an Olympic qualifying event held in conjunction with the 1995 FINA Synchronized Swimming World Cup. Each team consisted of eight swimmers (chosen from a total team of ten). The competition included two events, the technical routine program and the free routine program.

The technical routine required entries to perform a series of required elements in prescribed order. It had a time limit of two minutes and 50 seconds. Music selection and choreography was up to the discretion of each team. In the free routine, there were no specifications for the routine other than the five-minute time limit. In both the technical and free routines, a panel of 10 judges (five giving scores for technical merit and five awarding scores for artistic impression) awarded points from 0 to 10 in one tenth point increments.

When the technical merit and artistic impression scores were calculated for a total score, the technical routine score was weighted to 35 percent and the free routine to 65 percent. These two scores were then combined to determine overall medal placement.[1]

Schedule

edit
Date Time Round
Tuesday, July 30, 1996 19:30 Free routine
Friday, August 2, 1996 19:30 Technical routine

Results

edit
Rank Country Athletes Technical Free Total
    United States Suzannah Bianco, Tammy Cleland, Becky Dyroen-Lancer, Heather Pease, Jill Savery, Nathalie Schneyder, Heather Simmons-Carrasco, Jill Sudduth, Emily LeSueur, Margot Thien 34.720 65.000 99.720
    Canada Karen Clark, Sylvie Fréchette, Janice Bremner, Karen Fonteyne, Christine Larsen, Erin Woodley, Cari Read, Lisa Alexander, Valérie Hould-Marchand, Kasia Kulesza 34.277 64.090 98.367
    Japan Miya Tachibana, Akiko Kawase, Rei Jimbo, Miho Takeda, Raika Fujii, Miho Kawabe, Junko Tanaka, Riho Nakajima, Mayuko Fujiki, Kaori Takahashi 34.183 63.570 97.753
4   Russia Elena Azarova, Anna Iouriaeva, Mariya Kiselyova, Olga Brusnikina, Yelena Antonova, Marina Lobova, Youlia Pankratova, Olga Novokshchenova, Gana Maximova, Olga Sedakova 33.950 63.310 97.260
5   France Virginie Dedieu, Marianne Aeschbacher, Myriam Lignot, Celine Leveque, Julie Fabre, Isabelle Manable, Magali Rathier, Charlotte Massardier, Delphine Maréchal, Éva Riffet 33.460 62.616 96.076
6   Italy Serena Bianchi, Giada Ballan, Manuela Carnini, Mara Brunetti, Giovanna Burlando, Brunella Carrafelli, Roberta Farinelli, Paola Celli, Maurizia Cecconi, Letizia Nuzzo 32.807 61.446 94.253
7   China Li Min, Long Yan, Chen Xuan, Wu Chunlan, Li Yuanyuan, Jin Na, Fu Yuling, Li Fei, Guo Cui, Pan Yan 33.110 61.014 94.124
8   Mexico Wendy Aguilar, Olivia González, Lilián Leal, Ingrid Reich, Aline Reich, Patricia Vila, Ariadna Medina, Berenice Guzmán, Perla Ramírez, Erika Leal 33.04 60.796 93.836

References

edit
  1. ^ "Teams Make Olympic Debut". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 26 December 1996. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
edit