Flamengo wins three gold medals at the Brazilian Artistic Swimming Championships
Bernardo Santos, Gabi Regly and the junior team are Brazilian champions.
By Roberta Pinto and Daniel Falbo - in
The sun finally came out to brighten up the Brazilian Artistic Swimming Championships even more. And the Mengão athletes didn't disappoint the fans who packed the stands.
In four events, three gold medals and one silver. Bernardo Santos won the Brazilian Championship in the men's solo and mixed duet with Gaby Regly. The junior team is also the best in Brazil, while Vitória Casale secured silver in the women's solo.
The competition concludes this Sunday with the women's duet champions. Maria Clara Lobo and Laura Miccuci are in contention for the title. The competition begins at 9 a.m.
Saturday began with the Senior Women's Free Solo performances at the Daltely Guimarães pool.
In a very difficult competition for the judges, Giulia Velloso, an athlete from Fluminense, took the gold medal with 76.716 points. Vitória Casale, from Mengão, won the silver medal with 76.150 points and the bronze went to Rafaela Geraldi, from Paineiras, with 75.016 points.
In the Senior Men's Solo Freestyle, Bernardo Santos performed brilliantly, beating the favorite, Fabiano Ferreira, by 0,33 tenths. With 72.516 points, he surpassed the 72.483 points scored by Fabiano Ferreira (Fluminense), winning the Brazilian title. Murillo Henrique da Cunha of Paineiras, who scored 70.666, took bronze.
Quite emotional and still in disbelief, Bernardo spoke about his journey to the top of Brazil's artistic swimming competition. "Wow, I'm bursting with joy! This is a victory we've been fighting hard for, and achieving this for Flamengo, bringing this title home, is truly amazing. We make a lot of sacrifices to achieve this result. I'd like to thank Roberta Perillier, who supports me immensely, and the nation."
The team competition, Junior Free category, had another show and the title for Mais Querido. Adding 144.478 points between today's test and the technical presentation last Friday (17), Ana Clara Santos, Eduarda Carrilho, Giovana Leal, Jaddy Milla Passos, Julia Bouças, Luzia Galvez, Manuella Batista and Grazielly Miranda won the Brazilian title.
The Paineiras team won the silver medal, with a total of 140.639 points. The Tijuca Tênis Clube team completed the podium with 137.241 points.
Julia Bouças, together with the team, celebrated the title.
“After so much training and many days of fighting, the gold arrived!”
Jaddy, the most experienced member of the team, also spoke about the achievement.
"I'm very proud of the girls, I'm very happy and grateful to be competing at home. I can only say thank you."
Ana Clara spoke briefly about the challenges she faced en route to winning the gold medal. "It wasn't easy. Not everyone competes in the same category. We often had to train separately, and when we managed to come together, this wonderful result emerged." The athletes, deeply moved, dedicated the title to their coach Marina Valladão.
Next, the Senior Free Mixed Duet events took place. With 77.316 points, Flamengo took home another gold medal with the duo of Bernardo Santos and Gabi Regly. Luiza Borges and Fabiano Ferreira of Fluminense won the silver medal with 77.083 points. The Paineiras duo of Celina Rangel and Murillo da Cunha took bronze with 73.566.
Bernardo was thrilled with another gold medal competing on home soil. "I'm still getting goosebumps. Let's go after more titles in the future!"
Gabi Regly spoke about her excitement about competing in Gávea.
"We knew it was going to be very difficult, very competitive, but we felt we swam well and are very happy and grateful that our work paid off. We gave our best, everything we could, and the feeling is one of accomplishment."
The artistic swimming teams of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo rely on resources from their sponsors – Rede D'or, Coperalcool, Hoteis.com – via the Federal Sports Incentive Law/Special Sports Secretariat (SEESP), in addition to support from the Brazilian Club Committee (CBC) resulting from the decentralization of resources originating from the Pelé Law.
Photo: Gilvan de Souza /CRF