“According to the new rules, it is quite possible to humiliate the country out of the blue” – Tatiana Pokrovskaya

Head coach of the Russian synchronized swimming team Tatiana Pokrovskaya in an interview with , she said that innovations regarding refereeing in this sport lead to the fact that technically stronger athletes can lose to weaker ones.

Since 2023, new rules have come into force in synchronized swimming, in particular concerning the evaluation of components, the duration of programs and the reform of the judging system.

— Hockey players say if they return to the World Championship tomorrow, they are ready to defeat Canada and win gold. Do you have the same attitude in synchronized swimming?

“Even if we are ready, there will be provocations and the judges will do everything to pressure us.” What is hockey? Score a goal – and everything is fine with you. But what type of arbitration can we have? According to the new rules, it is quite possible to humiliate the country out of the blue.

And there it was, China, which was the strongest after Russia. And now they were already sixth in some compositions. After all, how does it work now? I noted some complex elements in my application. The judges have decided that you haven’t completed something, and your connection is then not considered at all. Thus, the Chinese rank in sixth place. Do you understand? And everyone rejoices: finally, the hegemons have been overthrown! But that’s not fair. If a country is technically strong, how can it operate in such a way that it loses to weaker countries? This is what is happening!

All that remains is to hope that after the Olympics things will change. It’s a shame that whoever runs synchronized swims has nothing to do with our sport. She doesn’t feel the situation. And behind his back, someone is creating intrigues, introducing these new rules. This is how we live,” Pokrovskaya told .

In January, the International Swimming Federation (World Aquatics) announced that Russian athletes would not participate in the February World Aquatics Championships, in Doha, from February 2 to 18.

The Russian synchronized swimming team will not be able to compete at the Paris Olympics (July 26 to August 11), since the rules for admission to international qualifying competitions, even in neutral status, imply participation only solo, and this is not the case. is not the case. a sort of Olympic program.