U.S. Duet Third After Technical Program

ATHENS, Greece – The U.S. duet of Alison Bartosik and Anna Kozlova were all smiles after their performance Monday night at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens Greece.

“This is the best we have ever swam since being paired,” said Kozlova. “I am so excited.”

The pair, swimming together for the last two years, scored a 96.667 and sit in third place just ahead of Spain who finished third, just ahead of the American duo, in the Olympic Qualification Tournament in April. The Spanish duet scored a 95.833.

“They had a very good performance,” said head coach Chris Carver. “It was really important for them to have a good technical swim, because it helps confidence going into the free swim.”

Russia took the top spot scoring a 98.833, while Japan followed close behind at 98.000. France and Canada sit close behind Spain with scores of 95.333 and 95.000 respectively.

“There are quite a few routines with very strong free programs,” continued Carver. “We are without a doubt in an ideal position. I am very proud of them!”

Competition continues Tuesday with the duet free preliminary routines. Monday’s technical routine marks will be weighted to 50 percent and combined with 50 percent of Tuesday’s free routine scores to determine Wednesday’s final 12 routine competitors.

Duet Technical (top 12)
1, Anastasia Davydova, Anastasia Ermakova, Russia, 98.833. 2, Miya Tachibana, Miho Takeda, Japan, 98.000. 3, Alison Bartosik, Anna Kozlova, United States, 96.667. 4, Gemma Mengual, Paola Tirados, Spain, 95.833. 5, Virginie Dedieu, Laure Thibaud, France, 95.333. 6, Fanny Letourneau, Courtenay Stewart, Canada, 95.000. 7, Beibei Gu, Xiaohuan Zhang, China, 93.167. 8, Beatrice Spaziani, Lorena Zaffalon, Italy, 93.000. 9, Eleftheria Ftouli, Christina Thalassinidou, Greece, 92.667. 10, Iryna Gayvoronska, Darya Yushko, Ukraine, 90.834. 11, Magdalena Brunner, Belinda Schmid, Switzerland, 90.667. 12, Carolina Moraes, Isabela Moraes, Brazil, 90.334.