Anita Alvarez and Ruby Remati compete at the 2019 FINA World Championships on July 18, 2019 in Gwangju, South Korea.
Two out of three’s not bad, especially when talking about spots on the podium.
The U.S. artistic swimming team had two entries in Saturday’s team technical competition, and both medaled, taking second and third place behind the host nation at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series opener in Paris.
The team that took second consisted of Paige Areizaga, Nicole Goot, Hannah Heffernan, Daniella Ramirez, Ruby Remati, Abby Remmers, Lindi Schroeder and Emmanuella Tchakmakjian. They scored 83.3925 points, followed by the second U.S. team with 76.1558 points. Included on the bronze medal-winning squad were Claudia Coletti, Ashley Latchford, Anya Melson, Maya Plotnitskaya, Ella Sharon, Juliana Silva, Gabriella Terry and Valentina Terry.
This weekend’s competition is the first of the season that will conclude in June with the Super Final.
It’s also an important lead-up to the Olympic qualification event to be held in Tokyo from April 30-May 3, where the U.S. team will look to earn a spot at the Games for the first time in 12 years.
Saturday’s medals go along with the two bronze medals won by Schroeder and Anita Alvarez in the technical duet and free duet on Friday. The two have been named the duet to compete for the U.S. at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, but they also need to qualify in Tokyo. If the team qualifies, Alvarez and Schroeder will also qualify as a duet.
The U.S. has won a total of nine medals in artistic swimming at the Olympics, including five gold.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic and Paralympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
