Article courtesy of the Australian Olympic Committee.
The Free Routine in artistic swimming is a canvas without limits, allowing teams to let their imagination soar, unrestricted by technical mandates. For Australia, this meant the freedom to weave a narrative of the Avatar warriors into their performance. Bringing to life a tale of strength, grace, and unity.
From the moment the music began, the audience was submerged in a different world. The routine started with a powerful lift, launching the swimmers into a series of quick pattern changes and fluid connection movements, reflecting Australia’s 59.575 degree of difficulty.
In a time of 3:34.1, the team scored 280.5521 (elements: 180.9521, artistic interpretation: 99.6) and placed 9th in the free routine. They are now placed 9th with 516.45922 points overall, with one team event left to go.
Olympic debutant Milena Waldmann was thrilled with the team’s performance.
“We’re really pumped. We dove in the water, and it felt amazing to swim in front of a crowd for one of the biggest dreams that we’ve ever had.”
The choice of “Avatar: The Way of Water” as a theme was deeply resonant for the team. The movie’s portrayal of water as a transformative and essential element struck a chord with the swimmers, who spend countless hours immersed in their aquatic environment.
For 19-year-old Margot Joseph Kuo, the theme was chosen by the team for the emotive connection they felt towards the film’s soundtrack and the strength portrayed by the Avatar warriors in the film.
“When we were choreographing the routine, the new Avatar movie had just come out. We were really inspired by the artistry behind the whole world that was created,” Margot said.
“We thought it’d be something that we could portray in the water, quite literally. We all really love the music. I think it’s been one of our favourite routines so far.”
Australia’s artistic swimming campaign will continue tomorrow at the Aquatics Centre when the third and final routine, Acrobatic, gets underway. Once the ten teams have finished, the medals will be determined.
Zoe Poulis believes that the Team’s next performance will be their best yet at the Games.
“We’ve got to recover well tonight, and I’m sure that tomorrow we’ll come back even better. We want a really powerful finish for the team events in the acrobatic.”
The team will look to improve their ninth-place finish in Tokyo, 8 August at 3:30am AEST.
