After the European Games, the sisters trained in the BSFZ Südstadt, from July 5th they will continue to work on the performances in the camp in Kochi before they continue to the World Cup city. The title fights in Fukuoka will take place from July 14th to 30th. What is special is that the Alexandris have set the bar in their sport with their performances, because the new valid evaluation criteria were finally adopted in mid-June.
“They set the bar insanely high. They killed it with the difficulty,” said OSV sports director Walter Bär, addressing the 27-year-old’s choreographies, which are based on high difficulty. The competition congratulated them, they were happy for them, said the double European champions.
Alexandris “dance” at Olympia
Austrian duet Anna-Maria and Eirini-Marina Alexandri won their first major synchronized swimming title at the European Games in Poland. Due to their two European Championship gold medals, the synchronized swimmers already have their Olympic ticket.
At the same time there was filming, because the non-European competition now has to draw their conclusions from Alexandri’s performances. Bär: “China and Japan have probably prepared something, now the cards have been laid on the table. They react now. It’s a bit like playing poker. In top-level sport you’re always pushing the limit, you’re not in a safe area. Now everyone will try to approach this limit.”
GEPA/OEOC In Poland, the Alexandris won gold in both the technical and freestyle
Mistakes are severely punished
The special thing about the new rating system is that only clean performances like the youngest of the Alexandris are rewarded with top places. “With base marks (penalty, note) there is a completely different placement,” explained Eirini-Marina Alexandri. “If you get one element wrong, the whole figure is null. We have about a character with a difficulty of nine. If we had made a small mistake, we would have only had 0.5 – that’s 60 points less.” That would have meant a loss of no less than a quarter of the point performance.
APA/AFP/Janek Skarzynski The Alexandris show high levels of difficulty – and still remain error-free
The pressure was therefore very high, a mistake could have cost the medal and the Olympic qualification. “We saw big countries like Italy and Spain, which used to win medals very often,” said Anna-Maria Alexandri, referring to the poorer placements of these duets this time. The fact that they did the work themselves and will therefore also be there in Paris 2024 was a relief for both of them. “It’s definitely easier now, we can work more calmly, without pressure. That was the goal,” explained Eirini-Marina Alexandri.
New rating system “above all objective”
However, this is also due to a special focus on the new framework conditions. “We sat down at home and read the 200 pages of the new rules,” emphasized Vasiliki Alexandri. Coach Albena Mladenova did the same for herself, after which the impact of the innovations on the programs was discussed in training. One is sure that choreographer Stephane Miermont will not have recognized the choreography he rehearsed in the fall so easily. “But this system is above all objective,” the trainer emphasized the advantages.
After eleven years of working together with the native Bulgarian, the Alexandris have now reached a new peak, World Cup medals are the next goal. However, Vasiliki Alexandri was thrown back before the European Games by a herniated disc suffered during training in the Turkey camp. “I couldn’t train for two weeks. I’m not 100 percent fit yet, but I have to live with that.” A year ago in Budapest, the oldest of the triplets came fifth in the solo World Championships twice, and her sisters twice won bronze duet.