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the French Rakotomalala wins the bronze of the free solo

Quentin Rakotomalala brought another medal to France at the European Championships.

Frenchman Quentin Rakotomalala won the bronze medal in the free solo event on Sunday at the European Championships in Rome, the first major competition to organize artistic swimming events reserved for men.

With 78 points stacked, he finished third behind Italy’s Giorgio Minisini in gold (88.4667) and Spain’s Fernando Diaz del Rio (83.3333) in silver.

For this great first, there were only four competitors in the running due to the low density of the discipline at the moment.

«I really had a blast, I took advantage of the moment. To be at the European Championships is really amazing“, reacted the 19-year-old Frenchman, who swam to melancholy music by Briton Benjamin Clementine. His program expressed his evolution in artistic swimming.

The historically feminine discipline opened up for the first time to men’s solo events on the occasion of these European Championships.

«I hope that seeing me here (other boys) will think that it is possible for them to do nat synchro. It’s not a girl’s sport, it’s totally open. I hope that for the future, there are plenty of people who will get started and continuecontinued Rakotomalala who started artistic swimming at the age of nine following in the footsteps of his sister.

«I swam at the base and I loved seeing their 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“, he explained before his entry into the running. “(What I liked) is the artistic side, the dance side. I love water since I was little. All that mixed together, it was something really made for me.»

On Friday, Minisini had won the technical event, becoming the first men’s solo European champion. Mixed duo events have already existed since 2015.

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