U.S. Team Captures Bronze Medal

ATHENS, Greece – It was a night to remember … or better put, a week to remember for the U.S. Olympic Synchronized Swimming Team. Two bronze medals … one likely and one a surprise.

The United States captured its second bronze medal in three days in the team event Friday evening at the 2004 Olympic Games. The U.S. Team scored a final composite 97.418.

“We are so excited to win the bronze medal,” said Anna Kozlova. “We have worked so hard the last couple of years and it has paid off. This is a very special team and we are all really happy.”

After the technical program, the U.S. sat 0.417 points ahead of Spain. With a medal on the line, the U.S. team widened the gap after the free program capturing the bronze by 0.567 points. Spain scored a final composite 96.751.

“We went in there with nothing to loose and wanted to put it all on the table,” said Stephanie Nesbitt. “We were pretty well received with a couple 9.9’s and 9.8’s. We are really happy about that.”

Swimming for the U.S. was: Alison Bartosik (Santa Clara, Calif.), Tammy Crow (St. Louis, Missouri), Becky Jasontek (Loveland, Ohio), Anna Kozlova (St. Petersburg, Russia), Sara Lowe (Desoto, Texas), Lauren McFall (Los Altos, Calif.), Stephanie Nesbitt (Riverside, Calif.), and Kendra Zanotto (Los Gatos, Calif.).

Russia and Japan captured gold and silver respectively for the second time this week.

Team Final Composite
1, Russia, 99.501. 2, Japan, 98.501. 3, United States, 97.418. 4, Spain, 96.751. 5, Canada, 95.251. 6, China, 94.584. 7, Italy, 94.084. 8, Greece, 92.750.

Flash Quotes:

Stephanie Nesbitt:
On her thoughts of their routine…
“It all happened so fast. When I hit the water it was like it was over.”

On the scores they received tonight…
“We went in there with nothing to loose and wanted to put it all on the table. We were pretty well received with a couple 9.9’s and 9.8’s. We are really happy about that.”

On the first program…
“We were still going out there like we had a shot. We wanted to have our best swim and we weren’t looking back but we were definitely looking forward to what we had to do.”

On the Olympic experience…
“It is definitely awesome. I don’t know what to say about it, no words can describe it right now. It is just such a special feeling.”

On the program…
“We haven’t watched the video but it felt good if that means anything.”

Kendra Zanotto:
“Everything on the monitor looked good. I know my first lift wasn’t perfect, there was a small glitch in it. We are all done now and this is the first time I have stopped crying in the past three minutes. We are all happy. We love each other very much and we are all so proud of each other.”

Tammy Crow:
On how she was feeling...
"I feel the synchro world is very unique. Everyone has helped me. I feel supported by everyone and this organization has helped me. I hope we made everyone proud that we swam for USA Synchro and not just the team or ourselves."

Anna Kozlova:
Thoughts on tonight...
"We are very exited. We have worked very hard, for so many years. As a team we are very close together, we get on well with each other and finally we are very happy to have the bronze medal."

On Tammy being here with them...
"She has been through so much and we support her in every way. She was excited to be here with us and we are excited to have her here. It probably meant more to us to have here here. Our whole team will be there to support and try to help her in whatever way we can."

Sara Lowe:
On tonight's swim...
"We had an incredible swim. It felt so connected and that is how we wanted to go out."

Head Coach Chris Carver:
On the pieces of the program and the reaction from tonight’s routine..
“It was a real complicated hybrid that is in the corner with a lot of swirls in it and as I was watching it I saw a not so perfect match. Coaches in synchronized swimming are kind of obsessive and we figure we can rewrite Shakespeare. It is never going to be perfect for us because it is not our nature. I was very satisfied with how the team performed.”

On the routine…
“It was very complicated. I picked the music first and I wanted a piece of music that people from every culture would recognize. Sometimes you like a piece of music but you go somewhere where they don’t like it so I picked something that everyone was familiar with so they didn’t have to hear it three times to appreciate it. Then I picked something that created pictures. This routine had a lot of visual pictures in it. That was the basics of the routine.”

On her favorite part…
“I like the part where it gets stormy and one flip goes on top of the other.”

On winning the bronze after not medaling in Sydney...
"This is a thrill. Having coached gold in Atlanta, I have watched these girls progress in the past couple of years and told them that sometimes bronze means just as much as gold. And this one does."

On Tammy...
"I told Tammy just before coming in here (the press conference) that just because swimming is over doesn't mean her team is not there anymore. We will be there to support her now and always."