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| Nationality | French | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 29 May 2003 [1] Marseille, France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Artistic swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Solo free routine, Mixed duet technical routine, Mixed duet free routine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Quentin Rakotomalala (born 29 May 2003) is a French artistic swimmer. He was the first man to win a bronze medal in the solo free routine at a LEN European Aquatics Championships, winning the medal at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships.
Rakotomalala has expressed hopes that one day the Olympic Games will include men in solo and duet artistic swimming competition at the Games, specifying in 2022 his goal of competing at the 2028 Summer Olympics. [2] In December 2022, the International Olympic Committee announced men could compete in the team event in the sport at the 2024 Olympic Games so long as the male competitors do not constitute more than 25% of the team event members, however, the Committee also continued the exclusion of men in solo and duet events, events Rakotomalala competes in. [3]
Competing as a 16-year-old at the leg of the 2020 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series held in Paris, Rakotomalala and his partner Madeline Philippe won their first medal in the mixed duet technical routine, scoring 72.0468 points to win the silver medal behind gold medalists Emma García and Pau Ribes of Spain. [4] They won their second medal later in the day in the mixed duet free routine with a score of 75.3000 points, this time finishing 10.1333 points behind the Spaniards. [5]
The 2022 European Aquatics Championships, held in Rome, Italy, was the first edition of the LEN European Aquatics Championships to offer solo male artistic swimming events, and as such Rakotomalala entered to compete in the second ever solo male event, the solo free routine, which took place after the solo technical routine in the Championships program, and was the first time the solo free routine was ever conducted. [2] [6] In the final of the solo free routine, held on 12 August at Foro Italico, he scored a total of 78.0000 points, finishing 10.4667 points behind Giorgio Minisini of Italy, 5.3333 points behind Fernando Díaz del Río of Spain, and 9.4667 points ahead of Ivan Martinović of Serbia to win the first ever bronze medal in the event. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] He executed his bronze medal-winning choreography to music by Benjamin Clementine of Great Britain. [6]
| Meet | solo free routine |
|---|---|
| EC 2022 |  (78.0000) |
Synchronized swimming, also known as artistic swimming, is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by World Aquatics. It has traditionally been a women's sport, although FINA introduced a new mixed gender duet competition that included one male swimmer in each duet at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships and European Aquatics introduced men's individual events at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships. From 2024, men are able to compete in the team event at the Olympics.
Lila Meesseman-Bakir is a French synchronized swimmer who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Linda Cerruti is an Italian competitor in synchronised swimming who competed at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships, 2013 World Aquatics Championships, 2010 European Aquatics Championships, 2012 European Aquatics Championships. and in Duet at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She also competed at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary and at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy.
Yukiko Inui is a Japanese competitor in synchronised swimming. She won Japan's first gold medal in each the solo technical routine and the solo free routine at a FINA World Aquatics Championships at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in the duet event with Megumu Yoshida, and in the team event.
Jacqueline Simoneau is a Canadian synchronized swimmer.
Giorgio Minisini is an Italian synchronised swimmer. He won two bronze medals in the inaugural mixed duet competition at the 2015 World Championships. He was world champion at the FINA World Aquatics Championships in the mixed duet technical routine in 2017 and 2022 and the mixed duet free routine in 2022. In 2022, he became the first male artistic swimmer to win a gold medal at a LEN European Aquatics Championships in a men's solo event, winning the gold medal in the solo technical routine.
Aleksandr Evgenyevich Maltsev is a 4-time world champion and 6-time European champion in artistic swimming and a founder of men's artistic swimming in Russia. Aleksandr is the most titled male artistic swimmer in the world. He is recognized as the best male artistic swimmer in the world by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) and as the best male artistic swimmer in Europe by the European Swimming League (LEN).
Maxime Grousset is a French swimmer from New Caledonia. He is a world record holder in the short course 4×50 metre mixed freestyle relay. He won the gold medal in the 100 metre butterfly and the bronze medal in the 50 metre freestyle at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.
Shelly Bobritsky is an Israeli Olympic swimmer who competes in Artistic swimming. She competed in the 2020 Olympics in duet, was the European Champion in the free combination event in 2023, and was a three-time European medalist as well as a two-time European Cup bronze medalist. Bobritsky represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in artistic swimming women's duet with Ariel Nassee, and the pair came in 11th.
Analia Pigrée is a French Guianese swimmer who competes internationally representing France. She is the French record holder in the long course and short course 50 metre backstroke and the short course 100 metre backstroke. In the 50 metre backstroke, she won the gold medal at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships, a silver medal at the 2021 European Short Course Championships, and the bronze medal at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships. In the 100 metre backstroke, she won the bronze medal at the 2021 European Short Course Championships.
Audrey Lamothe is a Canadian artistic swimmer. She is a 13-time medallist at Artistic Swimming World Series and World Cup circuits. She won 11 medals at the 2022 Artistic Swimming World Series, two gold medals, eight silver medals, and one bronze medal. She was the champion in the solo free routine at the leg of the World Series hosted virtually by Australia. At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, she placed eighth in the team technical routine, ninth in the solo free routine and tenth in the solo technical routine. At the 2022 World Junior Championships, she placed fifth in the solo technical routine, fifth in the team technical routine, and sixth in the solo free routine.
Gustavo Adolfo Sánchez is a Colombian artistic swimmer. He won two gold medals in the solo free routine at the 2022 Artistic Swimming World Series as well as a bronze medal in the mixed duet technical routine. His gold medal in the solo free routine at the Paris stop of the 2022 World Series marked the first gold medal won by an artistic swimmer representing Colombia at a FINA Artistic Swimming World Series. He is a 2022 Bolivarian Games champion in the mixed duet routine. At World Aquatic Championships, he placed sixth in the mixed duet technical routine in 2022 and eighth in 2019, as well as sixth in the mixed duet free routine in 2022 and eighth in 2019.
Yotaro Sato is a Japanese artistic swimmer. He won the silver medal in the mixed duet technical routine at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships with his older sister Tomoka Sato, which was the first medal for Japan in the event at a FINA World Aquatics Championships other than a bronze medal, as well as a silver medal in the mixed duet free routine. As part of the 2022 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series, he won one gold medal and one silver medal in the mixed duet free routine and one gold medal in the mixed duet technical routine. At the 2022 World Junior Championships, he became the first male artistic swimmer to win the silver medal each in the solo technical routine and the solo free routine at a World Junior Championships.
Javier Enrique Ruisanchez Torres Zayas is a Puerto Rican artistic swimmer and former pool swimmer. He is a nine-time medalist at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series, winning eight medals at the 2022 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series. At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, he and his partner Nicolle Torrens became the first artistic swimmers representing Puerto Rico to qualify for, and compete in, a final of a mixed gender duet event at a FINA World Aquatics Championships, finishing eleventh in the mixed duet free routine and twelfth in the mixed duet technical routine.
Tomoka Sato is a Japanese artistic swimmer. At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, she and her younger brother Yotaro Sato became the first duo representing Japan to win a silver medal in the mixed duet technical routine, they also became the first representing Japan to win a silver medal in the mixed duet free routine. She also won a silver in the team technical routine and a bronze medal in the team free routine at the same Championships. Earlier in the year, she won a gold medal in the mixed duet technical routine and a gold medal and a silver medal in the mixed duet free routine as part of the 2022 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series. At the 2018 World Junior Artistic Swimming Championships, she won three bronze medals in team events.
Lucrezia Ruggiero is an Italian artistic swimmer. She won one gold medal each at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in the mixed duet technical routine and the mixed duet free routine. At the 2022 European Aquatics Championships, she won gold medals in the mixed duet technical routine and the mixed duet free routine.
Zhang Yiyao is a Chinese artistic swimmer. At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, she won a bronze medal in the mixed duet technical routine and a bronze medal in the mixed duet free routine. In 2018, she won two silver medals in mixed duet events at the World Junior Championships and four gold medals, two in mixed duet events and two in team events, at the leg of the 2018 Artistic Swimming World Series held in Beijing.
Ivan Martinović is a Serbian artistic swimmer. In 2022, he became the first man to win a bronze medal in a solo male artistic swimming event at a LEN European Aquatics Championships, winning the bronze medal in the solo technical routine at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships.
Fernando Díaz del Río Soto is a Spanish artistic swimmer. He was the first man to win a silver medal in a solo male artistic swimming event at a LEN European Aquatics Championships, winning the first silver medal in the solo technical routine, and afterwards the first silver medal in the solo free routine, at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships. He is an eight-time medalist at FINA Artistic Swimming World Series, including four gold medals, one silver medal, and three bronze medals spanning solo and mixed duet routines.
Jozef Solymosy is a Slovak artistic swimmer. In 2022, he won an historic, first-time medal for Slovakia in artistic swimming event at a LEN European Aquatics Championships, with his older sister Silvia Solymosyová winning the bronze medal in the mixed duet free routine at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships, as well as a bronze medal in the mixed duet technical routine.
