“I want to say: “finally!” Virginie Dedieu, triple world champion in synchronized swimming (the former name of artistic swimming) is relieved by the historic premiere which took place on Friday in Rome. The crowned swimmer in 2003, 2005 and 2007 believes that this progress is quite simply logical: “There is no reason why it should not exist. We always say blue for boys and pink for girls, or dance for girls and judo for boys. Well no, we can do everything in fact! »
History will remember that it was the Italian Giorgio Minisini who, at the age of 26, became the first solo European champion by winning the technical event, ahead of the Spaniard Fernando Diaz del Rio and the Serbian Ivan Martinovic. “It was very important to be here, that the judges finally see men competing in this event. It was a historic moment, and I can’t wait to see how far our sport can go now. To be one of the first guys to take part in this event was magical,” reacted Minisini.
For him, artistic swimming is a family affair. He swam his first ballets at the age of four. His mother, Susanna De Angelis, is a former artistic swimmer and his father Roberto Minisini a former international judge in the discipline.
Medal chances for Quentin Rokatomalala
Minisini was already present in 2015 when artistic swimming opened up to diversity for the first time. It was at the Worlds in Kazan, Russia. The International Federation had inaugurated a mixed pair category. American Bill May or Frenchman Benoît Beaufils were among the pioneers.
On Sunday, Minisini will have the opportunity to win a second medal in the free solo event. Among his rivals, a Frenchman, Quentin Rokatomalala. Who admits to being both a competitor and a fan of the Italian: “He’s someone I admire a lot, so it makes me very funny to swim in competition with him”, confides the 19-year-old Frenchman, who started artistic swimming by following in the footsteps of her sister.
“Basically, I swam and I loved seeing my sister’s galas and competitions. One day, a coach offered me to try because she saw that I loved it and that I came to all the galas, explains Quentin Rokatomalala. What I liked was the artistic side, the dance side. I love water since I was little. All that mixed together, it was something really made for me. »
“I saw the incomprehension in people’s eyes”
He admits, however, that the gaze of others has sometimes weighed on him: “Today, things are better, but when I was little, I saw incomprehension, questioning in people’s eyes. Sometimes I was ashamed to say I did, so I said I was just swimming. I hung out with kids who didn’t understand that a boy could play a girl’s sport. But now I assume completely, ”continues the young swimmer, licensed in Aix-en-Provence.
On Sunday, he will put on his pince-nez for a program evoking his progress in artistic swimming. He will have a real chance of medals since only four competitors will be lined up. The density is still low in this discipline, but the swimmers hope that the creation of this male category and its broadcast on television can create vocations. “It’s an opportunity to tell little boys that it’s possible. If you want, go ahead, go for it, ”concludes Virginie Dedieu.
