The Artistic Swimming national team, composed of Ana Culic, Thea Grima Buttigieg and Zea Montfort, travelled to Markham in Canada accompanied by national coach Michelle Hubner and assistant Hannah Preca Trapani.
On the first day of competition Culic and Montfort competed in the Solo Technical event with Montfort placing 15th with 194.05 points and Culic finishing 18th with 186.53 points.
Both athletes swam “clean” routines with no base marks.
On the second day, Thea Grima Buttigieg and Montfort competed in the Solo Free event.
Montfort placed 11th with 168.70 points, with no base marks, and Grima Buttigieg finished 15th with 134.59 points, incurring one base mark.
In the afternoon, Culic and Grima Buttigieg competed in the Duet Technical event, recording 206.28 points, Malta’s highest score ever in this event. This was another “clean” swim.
On the final day of the competition Culic and Grima Buttigieg competed in the Duet Free event and obtained 176.44 points in another “clean” swim.
In a statement, the Aquatic Sports Association of Malta said that following the National Team’s participation in the World Cup Stage 1 in Paris, France and Stage 3 in Markham, Canada, Culic and Grima Buttigieg are ranked fifth overall in the world in the Duet Events and Montfort is placed 11th overall in the world in the Solo Events,” the statement said.
“ One must keep in mind that these rankings were achieved despite the athletes participating in only two out of three World Cup stages.
“These results also augur well for our athletes’ participation in the Games of the Small States of Europe to be held in Andorra at the end of May.”
The participation of the Artistic Swimming National Team in the World Cup Stage 1 in Paris, France and Stage Three in Markham, Canada was made possible through the financial aid of SportMalta and the Maltese Olympic Committee, the statement concluded.
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