After a day with two hits on the posts in the technical duet and solo male technical routine, Spain hung its first two medals at the European Championships in Paris. Iris Tió, in a busy day, was present in both, first alongside Dennis González in the mixed duet free and then with Lilou Lluís in the free duet. The first tastes like glory and even brought tears to Andrea Fuentes due to the physical problems of the swimmer from Rubí in his toughest year; the last was in the ear, which prevented them from training the choreography for more than two weeks. The second holds more sadness: Spain had been world gold in Singapore and arrived first in the final… but lost the title by just five tenths.
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The Spanish duet was the last to enter the pool in Saint-Denis. Before, the bar had been set very high in a final worthy of a world championship due to the level especially of Russia (or neutral team), which tightens the screws on its rivals again with young swimmers but of heavenly perfection (310.4407), and Greece, with the Alexandri sisters disguised as vampires in their re-debut with their country (they competed with Austria in the last two Olympic cycles). They placed first, before Spain went out, with a score of 316.3315, four points more than in the preliminary. Spain had led by three, so they had to perfect it even more to hang the gold in a test that, along with the technical routine, is Olympic.
And Iris Tió and Lilou Lluís were very close to that perfection, but they fell just five tenths short of the Greeks, who doubled up and position themselves as formidable rivals for another Olympic cycle (315.6442).
With the theme ‘The Essence of Femininity’ to the rhythm of Escalate, by Tsar B, the spectators enjoyed a well-woven choreography by Tió and Lluís, two peas in a pod, who took a risk with an initial acrobatic move closely scrutinized by the judges and then with an artistic exercise, with rounded figures, more original sculls (which they have been working on this year with biomechanic Arnau Roig) and a stunning stage presence. Greece, which had a higher difficulty, finally prevailed due to those details. The choreography is a puzzle of values that add or subtract, and on this occasion that detail was ultimately decisive. The faces of Lilou and Tió upon seeing the score were transparent: a restrained joy because they wanted the same gold they won in Singapore.
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It was the second medal for Iris Tió, who just an hour and a half earlier had won another silver in the mixed duet free routine alongside Dennis González. In the morning, she was second in the preliminary of the solo technical behind the Belarusian Vasilina Khandoshka.
In a final with barely six participants, the Spanish mixed duet shone in the pool of the Saint-Denis aquatic center despite training only two weeks. Until that date, Dennis could barely chain quality training sessions due to his problems, and he also had to prepare the solo and the acrobatic. Spain’s advantage is that it was not a new choreography, but the same one, with music by Led Zeppelin, with which both won the gold medal at the last World Championships in Singapore.
With a score of 95.2033 in the elements and the best record in artistic impression (162.9500), Spain was just a hair behind Great Britain, who was detected with a ‘base mark’ in the routine, but which was finally corrected upon review, which made the pair formed by Ranjuo Tromblin and Isabelle Thorpe obtain, thanks to their better elements, 258.2383. The bronze was won by Italians Filippo Pelati and Lucrezia Ruggiero, also very close to Spain, with 255.1641.
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