Bill May captured his fifth solo title in five attempts on Saturday at the 26th annual Swiss Open in Geneva, Switzerland.

May's free routine final score of 98.000 topped second-place finisher Masako Tachibana of Japan by a full 3.166 points. Tachibana scored a 94.834 with Canada's Marie Boudreau Gagnon moving from up from sixth to take third at 93.666. Victoria Bowen of Plano, Texas, finished fifth with a mark of 92.833.

In the team event, U.S. National Team II fell from second to third in the free routine final, chasing Japan and Canada. Japan earned a 95.334, Canada's "Rocky" routine a 94.333 and the United States "Metamorphosis" routine a final mark of 93.916.

"The team had a great swim today. We are all very proud of our performance," coach Linda Witter (Columbus, Ohio) said. "The highlight had to be the perfect execution of all seven of our lifts. I think it was our best swim of the season."

Swimming for Team USA were Bowen (Plano, Texas), Anna Eng (West Chester, Pa.), Mary Hofer (San Diego), Suzanna Hyatt (Indianapolis), Lindsay Newbill (Laguna Hills, Calif.), Andrea Nott (San Jose, Calif.), Kim Probst (Troy, N.Y.), Shella Sadovnik (Irvine, Calif.), Emiko Takyu (San Jose, Calif.) and Beth Kreimer (Cincinnati, Ohio). Bowen, Eng, Hofer, Hyatt, Newbill and Kreimer all competed for Witter at Ohio State.

May, of Cicero, N.Y., has become a regular in the Swiss competitive scene since capturing Swiss Open gold in 1997. He repeated atop the podium in 1999, 2000 and 2001. In 1999 and 2000 he also performed in Zurich's annual holiday watershow alongside two-time world champion Olga Sedakova. Bowen is a junior at Ohio State, and is making her second Swiss Open solo appearance. Bowen finished fourth in the solo event in 2001.

The team now looks forward to the completion of the duet event. Two-time Olympian Anna Kozlova and partner Alison Bartosik finished first in the technical routine event on Thursday, with the duet of Hofer and Nott in sixth.

Competition continues Sunday with duet and combination routine final events.

Solo Free Final
1, Bill May, USA, 98.000. 2, Masako Tachibana, Japan, 94.834. 3, Marie Gagnon Boudreau, Canada, 93.666. 4, Chelsea Luker, Canada, 93.666. 5,
Bowen, USA, 92.833. 6, Belinda Schmid, Limmat Nixen Zurich, 91.334. 7, Magdalena Brunner, Limmat Nixen Zurich, 89.167. 8, Naomi Young, Australia, 86.667.

Team Free Final (incomplete results available)
1, Japan, 95.334. 2, Canada, 94.333. 3, United States, 93.916. 4, Switzerland, 91.084.