Maria Gromova: sports achievements of the Olympic champion in synchronized swimming. Where do champions start?

Angelica Timanina will take part in international tournament on surfing.

Olympic champion By synchronized swimming Anzhelika Timanina will perform in a new sport for herself - surfing.

30-year-old Timanina will take part in the World Championships, which will be held in Miyazaki (Japan) from September 7 to 15. This tournament will be the first international start for a synchronized surfer and the twelfth world championship in her career.

“I still don’t fully understand everything that is happening to me now,” Timanina said. - Only thanks to the support of people who sincerely believe in me, everything that happens today became possible, and I personally thank everyone who helped me get to where I am now. It is a great honor for me to take part in competitions of this level and represent the country.”

Note that Timanina ended her career as a synchronized swimmer in 2016.

Composition of the Russian team at the World Championships: Nikita Avdeev, Yegor Volkov, Sergey Rasshivaev, Polina Malizia, Anna Chudnenko, Anzhelika Timanina.

The World Surfing Championship will be the qualifier for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Related: Surfing competitions in Japan and Indonesia postponed Olympic champion in synchronized swimming to perform at the World Surfing Championships

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For several Olympic cycles in a row, the Russian women's synchronized swimming team has been methodically collecting all the first awards at the world's largest tournaments. One of the "golden" mermaids of this team was Maria Gromova, who successfully performed at high level over ten years. During this time, she managed to win three Olympics, become a multiple world and European champion.

pool life

Maria Igorevna Gromova was born in Moscow in 1984. Her parents tried to ensure that their daughter went in for sports, tried to attach her to the rhythmic gymnastics section, figure skating. However, for these sports, little Masha was a bit large, so I had to look for other ways. This is how synchronized swimming appeared in the biography of Maria Gromova. An important role in the final decision was played by the fact that it was the least traumatic sport, and the risk of harm to health was minimized here.

Masha came to the pool at the age of six, like all children, she first learned to stay on the water, to swim. Gradually, the girls of her group began to perform some elements, to reveal their abilities to the mentors. Maria's first coach was Elena Piskareva, who remained by her side throughout her career.

Gromova herself at first did not burn with a special desire to overcome herself, to do tedious stretching exercises. Like all children, she wanted to play, go out with friends. However, it so happened that she unsuccessfully performed at some children's competitions, being at the tail of the group. Here the character has already leaped up, and the girl began to reach out to her friends, trying to become the best. The results went by themselves, she began to get into the youth teams of the country, being a year younger than the girls of her age category.

Transition to adult level

Already at the age of sixteen, Maria Gromova got into the main national team of the country, falling under the head coach of synchronized swimming Tatyana Pokrovskaya. Orders in the team were pretty tough. Being a maximalist in essence, Pokrovskaya sought to hone each element of the program to the ideal level, forcing her pupils to repeat the same movements many times.

The pool, where synchronized swimmers were training, was empty after the evening, swimmers, jumpers from the tower left, but Maria Gromova and her teammates trained to exhaustion, sometimes lingering until twelve o'clock at night. Under such conditions, there was not even a need for tight control over young girls outside of training, since they themselves did not experience any other needs other than rest and sleep.

These titanic efforts were not in vain, Pokrovskaya's wards invariably took all the first places in big tournaments. In 2001, Maria Gromova for the first time in her life became the world champion in group exercises, then in the same year she took the European Cup.

Collecting medals

For her first Olympics in 2004, the Moscow athlete approached in the status of a multiple world champion. In 2003, another Golden medal world championships, won the European Cup. However, the Olympic Games were a special tournament, during which sports fans forgot about hockey and football and discovered other sports, including synchronized swimming.

For the period of preparation, the stop in the national team became truly barracks. Every day there were two training sessions, each of which lasted at least five hours. After such a drill, the movements of the girls at the tournament itself became worked out to automatism, they performed the most difficult cascades of jumps and lifts with a smile on their faces.

Rivals from China and Spain tried to catch up with the Russians, but it was impossible. So in 2004, Maria Gromova became an Olympic champion for the first time in her life.

The competition within the national team was very tough, talented juniors breathed in the back, but Maria found her niche in the team. Being a relatively large girl (height 172 cm, weight 61 kg), she played the role of "Atlanta" in the team. That is, during the supports, she was at the bottom and held a teammate on her shoulders, being a kind of springboard for jumping. At the same time, it was still strictly forbidden to touch the bottom with her feet; she performed this athletic work while floating on the water.

Departure into the shadows and return

In 2008, after winning her second Olympics, Maria Gromova decided to take a break from her career. After winning all possible tournaments, it was difficult to find further motivation for performances, and the athlete left the pool.

She spent her free time sensibly, devoting it to her education. Unlike many athletes, she chose not a sports university, but an institute of economics, management and law.

However, it is always difficult to end a career at only twenty-four. Two years later, Maria Gromova, along with several other group exercises friends, returns to the team and begins to prepare for the London 2012 Olympics.

Prepared the Lost World program for the main tournament of the four-year period, the preparation of which took place in strict secrecy. Rivals from other teams have more than once borrowed especially spectacular tricks from Russian team, and the repetition of excesses tried to avoid.

The new program abounded with the most complex technical elements, there were about ten pieces of throws and lifts alone. A special responsibility fell on Mary, who, with such elements, was a kind of foundation the most complex design. However, she did her job perfectly and helped the team win another victory, thus becoming a three-time Olympic champion.

In 2012, Maria Gromova made the final decision to leave the sport and left her active career.

In an interview, RT commented on the judicial scandal that erupted after the performance mixed doubles at the World Championship water sports sports in Budapest. According to her, the Russians Michaela Kalancha and Alexander Maltsev, who remained second, losing to the Italians, performed very decently. The famous athlete also appreciated the fact that the father of the world champion Giorgio Minisini was present among the judges.

Synchronized competitions in the mixed doubles at the World Aquatics Championship in Budapest ended in a serious refereeing scandal. The Russian duet of Michaela Calanci and Alexander Maltsev remained second, losing only 0.034 points to the Italians Manila Flamini and Giorgio Minisini. After the end of the speeches, it turned out that the father of Minisini, who became the world champion, was also part of the judiciary.

In Russia, many disagreed with the judges' assessments and called them biased. RT spoke with three-time Olympic champion Olga Brusnikina, who explained that the rules of the International Swimming Federation (FINA) do not prohibit judges from serving performances involving their own relatives.

- What are your impressions of the mixed doubles competition?

I saw only the performance of our duet. I didn’t follow the Italians, because I myself am at the training camp, and I didn’t have the opportunity to sit in front of the TV. I can't paint you a full picture, but Kalancha and Maltsev did everything at a very good level. Unless they had a small blot on the ejection. The rest of the performance of the guys looked very dynamic. As a result, the outcome of the struggle for gold was decided by two or three estimates. Perhaps the Italian judge helped his compatriots somewhere.

Now everyone is talking about the fact that among the judges was the father of the Italian Giorgio Minisini, who became world champion. How normal is this practice?

In synchronized swimming, there are no rules prohibiting parents from judging the performances of their own children. In fact, anyone can do this by going through a special judicial school and passing exams at the International Swimming Federation. I don't think any special rules were applied to Minisini. I am not very familiar with the history of this referee, but referees are usually invited to the FINA Synchronized Swimming Technical Committee for the World Championships. So the presence of Minisini in Budapest is not the result of the efforts of the Italians.

In synchronized swimming, the overall score is added up as follows: 30% of it is technical complexity, another 30% is awarded for execution and 40% for artistry. Is it possible to see how a particular judge assessed the performance of a particular duet?

In the decrypted protocols, such information should be. They contain all the marks of the judges.

- Athletes and coaches can see these protocols?

Naturally. They are placed daily in the boxes for national federations. All members of the delegation can familiarize themselves with the papers. In general, everything that happened really upset me. Attempts to remove the Russian duo from the top were also made at the 2015 World Cup in Kazan. Then the victory was given to the Americans Christina Jones and Bill May. It is difficult to say whether this was done intentionally. But it should be noted that in the mixed doubles, the level of marks is, in principle, lower than that of women who knock out 95 points each. Still, mixed is a very young look.

- Maybe judges-relatives are appointed specifically to interrupt the hegemony of Russia?

In any case, one judge is not able to decide everything, since there are only 15 arbitrators. Plus, I repeat, there are no rules that prohibit judging your own relatives. We can make any guesses, but in response we will be told that everything was done according to the letter of the law.

If we ignore the judicial scandal in the mixed doubles, what emotions did the performances of other Russian synchronized swimmers leave?

The team gave a result, despite a serious update that took place on all fronts: this is both a duet and a soloist. Even in the group, Tatyana Pokrovskaya has only two Olympic champions left. But Russia holds the mark and continues to be head and shoulders above rivals. In many free programs, the gap between Russian synchronized swimmers and competitors is more than two points, that is, almost every judge puts Russia in first place and confirms the country's leadership in this sport.

Of course, it was precisely in connection with their departure that there were certain concerns, but the professionalism of the coaches who train synchronized swimmers for the national team continues to bear fruit. I have already talked about the group, and after all, girls who recently left the junior team also entered its composition at the World Cup. During this year, Pokrovskaya did a great job so that they could complete the Olympic technical program. As a result, the Russian team continues to keep a very high bar.

After the 2016 Olympic Games, which ended with another triumph for the Russian synchronized swimming team, a major update awaited the Russian team. The main stars - five-time Olympic champions Natalya Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina - announced a pause in their careers. As a result, the coaching staff during the World Cup had to go to bold experiments. So, for the first time since junior age, Svetlana Kolesnichenko performed in the competition of soloists and won gold. Alexandra Patskevich had to make her debut in duets, but she did not flinch either, winning in a pair with the same Kolesnichenko. Group competitions were next in line - by the way, Kolesnichenko and Patskevich were not included in the Russian team. However, Svetlana herself thanked the head coach Tatyana Pokrovskaya for such a decision, explaining that it would be “morally difficult” for her to perform in the group as well.

As a result, the composition of the Russian G8 appeared to be radically updated. Of the Rio Olympic champions, only Maria Shurochkina and Vlada Chigiryova remained in the roster. At 22, they found themselves in the role of veterans of the national team, and the whole burden of responsibility fell on their fragile shoulders.

The rest are even younger. Twin sisters Anastasia and Daria Bayandin will turn 21 only in November. 20 years old and Maria Golyadkina with Darina Valitova. Veronika Kalinina is only 18, and Polina Kamar is 17. Valitova, however, two years ago in Kazan managed to become the world champion in mixed doubles paired with Alexander Maltsev.

With the sharply rejuvenated composition of the Russian national team, it was necessary to reaffirm their own hegemony in synchronized swimming. However, when such a person as Tatyana Pokrovskaya is at the head of the team, there can be no doubt about the success of the case. Tatyana Nikolaevna has been working with the Russian national team since 1998 and during this time she has trained more than one golden team.

“Of course, it was in connection with the departure of Ishchenko and Romashina that there were certain concerns, but the professionalism of the coaches who train synchronized swimmers for the national team continues to bear fruit. I have already talked about the group, and after all, girls who recently left the junior team also entered its composition at the World Cup. During this year, Pokrovskaya did a great job so that they could complete the Olympic technical program. As a result, the Russian team continues to hold a very high bar, ”the former ward of Pokrovskaya, three-time Olympic champion Olga Brusnikina, told RT.

  • Reuters

Gold in the heat

As a result, the performance in Budapest turned out to be difficult for the updated Russian team. In the Hungarian capital that day thermometers showed above 30 ºC, and the competition was held in an outdoor pool. As luck would have it, the domestic team received the last, 12th, number and had to wait for all the rivals to perform.

But the girls were not embarrassed. Once in the pool, they did everything perfectly. The elements in their performance looked simply amazing. It seemed like they had been performing together for many years. Of course, this team is still far from the one that won Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro, but the next games are still three years away. However, even now the Russian team has turned out to be inaccessible to competitors. The domestic eight scored 96.0109 points and was almost two points ahead of the second Chinese women (94.2165) - a whole gulf in synchronized swimming. It is curious that the representatives of the Celestial Empire chose a technical program with Russian folk motives. Bronze in a stubborn struggle with Ukraine was won by Japanese women (93.1590).

"There is a team change"

But Tatyana Pokrovskaya, after the end of the competition, finally agreed to call her wards a team.

“I was very worried about this group. Training is one thing, but I didn’t know how athletes would behave in competitions. At the preliminary stage, they seemed to be warming up, a little cautious. And they did well today. I am pleased. There is a team. Before the championship, I said: “There is no team, there is no team ...” And now I can say that the team was born. There is a change to the team that I called “animals” - when the girls came out - everyone was trembling, energy was in full swing from them, ”the All Sport agency quotes the coach as saying.

Pokrovskaya also said what she thinks about the Chinese women who have chosen the music to which the Russians once performed.

"For technical program Chinese women chose Russian folk motifs. And for the free program they took "Prayer"! It was our favorite Olympic program. The girls even asked not to put her with anyone else. Alas, this music is not only written for us. We ourselves found it on the Internet and cannot prevent others from using it. But still, it's embarrassing. After all, I processed it, specially accelerated it at the end ... And now it seems that the Chinese took it and simply added another 30 seconds to our version. Here is the music for our current programs - this is an exclusive. It was written by Denis Garnizov, who collaborates with the Todes ballet. A very promising young composer in particular in working with dance groups. His father, Alexei Garnizov, used to write for Todes, and now Denis continues his work. I’m already taking his third melody - he wrote two especially for us, and the third one, Dinosaurs, I found on the Internet and asked permission, ”added Pokrovskaya.

In turn, the Olympic champion Vlada Chigireva, who won the seventh gold of the world championships, admitted that she was still worried.

“Each performance is exciting for us, and today the sunny weather also made its own adjustments - it was very hot. But it was also hot from the support of our fans. We go to the start without confidence in our victory, the main thing for us is to fight with ourselves. Every time we worry that something might go wrong, but we worked to the maximum, so we got such marks, ”TASS quotes Chigiryova.

Synchronized swimming - the history of the emergence and development in the world and Russia

The history of synchronized swimming began to be written by representatives of ancient civilizations. In Egypt, girls picking lotus flowers showed miracles of grace, holding a basket with their hands and moving only with the help of leg movements. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote about the daughter of a famous swimmer, who felt so free in the water that, according to legend, she received the name Beloved of the god of the seas. IN Ancient Rome swimming of girls and boys with round dances to the music was an obligatory part of the program of water extravaganzas. It is believed that the formation of synchronized swimming as an independent sports discipline began in Europe at the end of the 19th century. Moreover, it was not women at all who became the “pioneers” at mass competitions, but men who competed among themselves for the first time in Berlin in 1891. The next country to join the process of developing a new sport was Great Britain, where a year later its own group of “synchronized” swimmers appeared. And at the beginning of the 20th century, "artistic swimming" began to conquer France, in which the "Seagull" club was formed.

"Water ballet", as synchronized swimming was originally called, was not recognized until 1920. key factor to the conquest of the world was the first championship in Montreal, Canada, organized four years later, and the spread of passion for this elegant and sophisticated sport in the United States and throughout Europe. At the same time, the mass participation of synchronized women in competitions began, which gradually replaced men from them.

In 1952, synchronized swimming received the long-awaited official international recognition and its modern name. At the French Championship, musical accompaniment that was not previously used was used; at the Olympics in Finland, demonstration performance American women, and a separate committee was created in FINA.

The emergence and development of synchronized swimming in the USSR

The beginning of the development of this sport in Russia can be considered 1908. It was then that a swimming school was founded near St. Petersburg, where they passed the standards in 12 disciplines, including rather unusual ones. On weekends, holidays were held here, during which students performed various figures on the water.

Demonstration performances of women in the amount of up to 24 people, in which the best athletes of that time participated - Khatuntseva, Kuznetsova, sisters Vtorova, Fedorova - became popular already in the 30s. After the war, independent groups began to organize, one of which performed in 1957 at the stadium. Lenin in Luzhniki.

The preliminary stage or formation of synchronized swimming in the USSR fell on 1961-1969 - from the first official metropolitan championship to inclusion in the calendar of annual city competitions. The second stage - Moscow - where the prize for the opening of the season was played, the individual championship and the Cubes of Moscow took place, lasted for 10 years until 1979. During this period, the requirements for categories and standards, competition rules and a qualification program were approved. As part of the established Moscow Federation under the leadership of the head. the department of State Center for Physical and Physical Education O. I. Logunova included V.V. Belokovsky, O. Kireeva, A. Mindlina, O. Wiltsin. The first coaching schools of O. Kireeva (Luzhniki), T. Dobychina, Z.A. Barbier ("Moscow"), M.N. Maksimova (Department of Swimming GTSOLIFK).

In 1974, at the request of the Federation, the editors of the Soviet Woman magazine established a spring competition prize dedicated to March 8. Two years later, the All-Union Commission was created under the USSR Sports Committee with the first chairman in the person of the famous Maya Plisetskaya, and the third stage in the development of synchronized swimming was launched, which began to conquer the entire Soviet space. Evidence of this is the appearance of the titles "Master of Sports of the USSR" and "MS of international class" in synchronized swimming, regional and republican teams - Belarusian and Ukrainian, Georgian and Moldovan, Uzbek, Kazakhstani and Armenian.

The third stage - all-Union - lasted from 1979 until the collapse of the USSR and began with the first All-Union competitions in Elektrostal, where new stars lit up: Potemkin, Frolov, Heitzer.


In 1980, the XXII Olympiad was held in Moscow, at which synchronized swimming is recognized olympic view sports and has been included in them since 1984 as an exclusively female discipline. First, competitions take place in singles and doubles with the implementation of technical and free program, and then group performances are added. In 1986, Soviet athletes go to their first world championship, in 1988 juniors begin to participate in competitions, and after 3 years the USSR ceases to exist and the modern - Russian - stage of development of synchronized swimming begins.

Olympic medal winners

Soviet synchronized swimmers did not participate in the XXIII Olympiad, held in Los Angeles. The reason is simple - a boycott in response to similar actions of the American team and a number of other teams that refused to come to a socialist country.

two gold Olympic medals Los Angeles from both sets went to Tracy Ruiz from the USA. In 1988, Caroline Waldo from Canada became the champion in Seoul. At the XXV Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992 in singles American Christine Babb-Spraig won doubles won by the duo of Sarah and Karen Josephson. After four years in Atlanta, the singles and doubles performances were replaced by group exercises, but the highest award again went to synchronized swimmers from the USA.

The dominance of American athletes ended in Sydney, where two sets of awards began to be played out - among duos and teams. From 2000 to 2016 in Australia, Greece, Japan, Great Britain and Brazil, synchronized swimmers from Russia took gold medals with them.

Among the strongest athletes in the world who have won the maximum number of awards, our legendary girls are in the lead:

  • Anastasia Davydova. Five-time Olympic champion in group and duet, 13-time world champion and 7-time European champion.
  • Anastasia Ermakova. Four-time Olympic champion, 8-time world, European and Russian champion.
  • Olga Brusnikina. Three-time Olympic champion, four-time world champion.
  • Maria Kiseleva. Three-time Olympic champion, 3-time world champion, 9-time European champion.

The brilliant results are the merit of the talented and persistent athletes themselves, the head coach of the Russian national team T.N. Pokrovskaya and the head coach T.E. Danchenko.

Tatyana Nikolaevna switched to synchronized swimming from rhythmic gymnastics. A creative approach, a real gift to unite people around her so that they become a cohesive team, the ability to train strong athletes in a short time helped her to achieve the triumphant success of the team at the Olympics, world and European championships.

Tatyana Evgenievna is a synchronized swimmer in the past - champion of the USSR and Europe among juniors. Under her leadership, Russian athletes took gold medals in four consecutive Olympic Games, won 21 World Championships and 14 European Championships. Does not know losses and the junior team. For more than 20 years, it has led to victories in world competitions N.A. Mendygalieva - ZTR of Russia and master of sports in scuba diving. Synchronized swimming in Russia today

The Federation of Synchronized Swimming of the USSR was replaced by the FSPR with the president represented by A.V. Vlasenko is a member of FINA, LEN (European Swimming League) and the Russian Olympic Committee - which is represented by the vice-president of the FSPR I.P. Kartashov and First Vice President O.A. Brusnikina. Synchronized swimming is intensively developing in 21 constituent entities of Russia and has 20 regional federations in regions, large cities, territories, autonomous regions and republics. 150 specialists work with 6000 athletes in dozens of youth sports schools, sports schools and sections, who continue the work of the leading coaches and directors of group compositions - Z.A. Barbier, M.N. Maksimov, O.I. Vasilchenko, T.N. Pokrovskaya, N.A. Mendygalieva, M.G. Terekhova.

Strict requirements for the performance technique and high competition determine the complexity of the new tasks that synchronized swimmers face in the next Olympic Games. After all, it is necessary not only to seize the leadership once, but also to forge the next victories. A strict system of selection and training makes it possible to grow promising talented athletes - today's juniors and tomorrow's heroes of world competitions. Expansion of staff and growth of professionalism of the coaching staff, increase in the number of groups initial training and improving sportsmanship makes it possible to raise the level of performance, prepare a worthy replacement for the outgoing stars and maintain the status of a sports superpower.