Synchronized swimming Olympic champions. Svetlana Romashina: how the five-time Olympic champion in synchronized swimming trains
Synchronized swimming - the history of the emergence and development in the world and Russia
history synchronized swimming representatives of ancient civilizations began to write. In Egypt, girls picking lotus flowers showed miracles of grace, holding a basket with their hands and moving only with the help of leg movements. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote about the daughter of a famous swimmer, who felt so free in the water that, according to legend, she received the name Beloved of the god of the seas. IN Ancient Rome swimming of girls and boys with round dances to the music was an obligatory part of the program of water extravaganzas. It is believed that the development of synchronized swimming as an independent sports discipline began in Europe at the end of the 19th century. Moreover, the "pioneers" mass competitions it was not women at all, but men who first competed among themselves in Berlin in 1891. The next country to join the process of developing a new sport was Great Britain, where a year later its own group of “synchronized” swimmers appeared. And at the beginning of the 20th century, "artistic swimming" began to conquer France, in which the "Seagull" club was formed.
"Water ballet", as synchronized swimming was originally called, was not recognized until 1920. A key factor in conquering the world was the first championship in Montreal, Canada, organized four years later, and the spread of the craze for this elegant and sophisticated sport in the United States and throughout Europe. At the same time, the mass participation of synchronized women in competitions began, which gradually replaced men from them.
In 1952, synchronized swimming received the long-awaited official international recognition and its modern name. Musical accompaniment that had not been used before was used at the French Championships, a demonstration performance by American women was held at the Olympics in Finland, and a separate committee was created at FINA.
The emergence and development of synchronized swimming in the USSR
The beginning of the development of this sport in Russia can be considered 1908. It was then that a swimming school was founded near St. Petersburg, where they passed the standards in 12 disciplines, including rather unusual ones. On weekends, holidays were held here, during which students performed various figures on the water.
Demonstration performances of women in the amount of up to 24 people, in which the best athletes of that time participated - Khatuntseva, Kuznetsova, sisters Vtorova, Fedorova - became popular already in the 30s. After the war, independent groups began to organize, one of which performed in 1957 at the stadium. Lenin in Luzhniki.
The preliminary stage or formation of synchronized swimming in the USSR fell on 1961-1969 - from the first official metropolitan championship to inclusion in the calendar of annual city competitions. The second stage - Moscow - where the prize for the opening of the season was played, the individual championship and the Cubes of Moscow took place, lasted for 10 years until 1979. During this period, the requirements for categories and standards, competition rules and a qualification program were approved. As part of the established Moscow Federation under the leadership of the head. the department of State Center for Physical and Physical Education O. I. Logunova included V.V. Belokovsky, O. Kireeva, A. Mindlina, O. Wiltsin. The first coaching schools of O. Kireeva (Luzhniki), T. Dobychina, Z.A. Barbier ("Moscow"), M.N. Maksimova (Department of Swimming GTSOLIFK).
In 1974, at the request of the Federation, the editors of the Soviet Woman magazine established a spring competition prize dedicated to March 8. Two years later, the All-Union Commission was created under the USSR Sports Committee with the first chairman in the person of the famous Maya Plisetskaya, and the third stage in the development of synchronized swimming was launched, which began to conquer the entire Soviet space. Evidence of this is the appearance of the titles "Master of Sports of the USSR" and "MS international class» in synchronized swimming, regional and republican teams - Belarusian and Ukrainian, Georgian and Moldovan, Uzbek, Kazakhstani and Armenian.
The third stage - all-Union - lasted from 1979 until the collapse of the USSR and began with the first All-Union competitions in Elektrostal, where new stars lit up: Potemkin, Frolov, Heitzer.
In 1980, the XXII Olympiad was held in Moscow, at which synchronized swimming was recognized as an Olympic sport and included in them since 1984 as an exclusively female discipline. First, competitions take place in singles and doubles with technical and free programs, and then group performances are added. In 1986, Soviet athletes go to their first world championship, in 1988 juniors begin to participate in competitions, and after 3 years the USSR ceases to exist and the modern - Russian - stage in the development of synchronized swimming begins.
Olympic medal winners
Soviet synchronized swimmers did not participate in the XXIII Olympiad, held in Los Angeles. The reason is simple - a boycott in response to similar actions of the American team and a number of other teams that refused to come to a socialist country.
two gold Olympic medals Los Angeles from both sets went to Tracy Ruiz from the USA. In 1988, Caroline Waldo from Canada became the champion in Seoul. At the XXV Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992 in singles American Christine Babb-Spraig won, in doubles the duet of Sarah and Karen Josephson won. Four years later, in Atlanta, singles and pairs were replaced by group exercises, but the highest award again went to synchronized swimmers from the USA.
The dominance of American athletes ended in Sydney, where two sets of awards began to be played out - among duos and teams. From 2000 to 2016 in Australia, Greece, Japan, Great Britain and Brazil, synchronized swimmers from Russia took gold medals with them.
Among the strongest athletes in the world who have won the maximum number of awards, our legendary girls are in the lead:
- Anastasia Davydova. Five-time Olympic champion in group and duet, 13-time world champion and 7-time European champion.
- Anastasia Ermakova. Quadruple Olympic champion, 8-time world, European and Russian champion.
- Olga Brusnikina. Three-time Olympic champion, four-time world champion.
- Maria Kiseleva. Three-time Olympic champion, 3-time world champion, 9-time European champion.
The brilliant results are the merit of the talented and persistent athletes themselves, the head coach of the Russian national team T.N. Pokrovskaya and the head coach T.E. Danchenko.
Tatyana Nikolaevna switched to synchronized swimming from rhythmic gymnastics. A creative approach, a real gift to unite people around her so that they become a cohesive team, the ability to train strong athletes in a short time helped her to achieve the triumphant success of the team at the Olympics, world and European championships.
Tatyana Evgenievna is a synchronized swimmer in the past - champion of the USSR and Europe among juniors. Under her leadership, Russian athletes took gold medals in four consecutive Olympic Games, won 21 World Championships and 14 European Championships. Does not know losses and the junior team. For more than 20 years, it has led to victories in world competitions N.A. Mendygalieva - ZTR of Russia and master of sports in scuba diving. Synchronized swimming in Russia today
The Federation of Synchronized Swimming of the USSR was replaced by the FSPR with the president represented by A.V. Vlasenko is a member of FINA, LEN (European Swimming League) and Olympic Committee Russia - which is represented by the vice-president of the FSPR I.P. Kartashov and First Vice President O.A. Brusnikina. Synchronized swimming is intensively developing in 21 constituent entities of Russia and has 20 regional federations in regions, large cities, territories, autonomous regions and republics. 150 specialists work with 6000 athletes in dozens of youth sports schools, sports schools and sections, who continue the work of the leading coaches and directors of group compositions - Z.A. Barbier, M.N. Maksimov, O.I. Vasilchenko, T.N. Pokrovskaya, N.A. Mendygalieva, M.G. Terekhova.
Strict requirements for performance technique and high competition determine the complexity of the new tasks that synchronized swimmers face before the next Olympic Games. After all, it is necessary not only to seize the leadership once, but also to forge the next victories. A strict system of selection and training makes it possible to grow promising talented athletes - today's juniors and tomorrow's heroes of world competitions. Expansion of staff and growth of professionalism coaching staff, increasing the number of groups initial training and improving sportsmanship makes it possible to raise the level of performance, prepare a worthy replacement for the outgoing stars and maintain the status of a sports superpower.
Water sports always attract with their entertainment. Freedom of movement human body in an uncharacteristic aquatic environment always impressive. Among many aquatic species competitions, perhaps the most feminine can be called synchronized swimming. The essence of synchronized swimming as a water sport lies in the strict synchronous performance of certain figures and exercises in the water to the music. This artistically refined and choreographically elegant type of water gymnastics seems easy and simple only at first glance. If you look closely, you can understand how demanding the rules are in this sport. Athletes involved in this sport experience significant physical exercise. In this regard, they must have serious endurance and strength, while demonstrating grace, flexibility and absolute control over their own breathing.
Initially, synchronized swimming appeared to the public at the beginning of the last century in Canada and was then called water ballet. Then went the spread of synchronized swimming across the continent and across Europe. In 1948, at the Olympic Games in London, they first appeared demonstration performances swimmers in synchronized swimming, but then this sport was not included in the program of the games. Only in 1984 in Los Angeles, at the Summer Olympics, synchronized swimming was officially included in the program. Olympic sports sports. At that time, representatives of single and pair performances competed in synchronized swimming.
The program of synchronized swimming competitions includes compulsory (technical) and free (long) performances. Compulsory performance implies the performance of certain elements in the prescribed order. In the free program, there are no restrictions in choreographic or musical compositions. The judging staff, evaluating the performances of swimmers, includes two groups, the first of which awards points for the technique of performance, and the second - for artistry. The maximum score is 10 points on both sides.
Until 1992, when the Olympic Games were held in Barcelona, the synchronized swimming program included single and doubles. But after 4 years, at the games in Atlanta in 1996, there were changes: singles and doubles performances were excluded and group performances came to replace them. This means that there was one set of awards at the games in Atlanta.
Russian athletes in synchronized swimming led by the head coach of the national team of our country Tatyana Pokrovskaya, won all the gold medals at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, 2004 in Athens and 2008 in Beijing.
This beautiful sport keeps the big names that made Russian synchronized swimming famous.
Maria Kiseleva is a Russian synchronized swimmer. Honored Master of Sports of Russia, three-time Olympic champion, three-time World champion, nine-time European champion, multiple champion of Russia and World and European Cups, champion of the Goodwill Games, member of the Presidential Council for Physical Education and Sports.
Olga Brusnikina- Russian athlete - swimmer. Honored Master of Sports of Russia in synchronized swimming. Multiple World and European Champion. Three-time Olympic champion in 2000 in Sydney in the group and doubles event, and in 2004 in Athens in the group event. Currently, a member of the Council under the President Russian Federation for physical education and sports.
Daria Korobova - Russian athlete - synchronized swimmer, member of the Russian national team. Honored Master of Sports of Russia. Five-time World Champion, twice European Champion, 15-time Russian Champion, World Cup winner. Hope of Russian synchronized swimming.
Angelica Timanina- Russian athlete - synchronized swimmer. Honored Master of Sports of Russia. Member of the Russian team. Five-time World Champion and two-time champion Europe.
Natalya Ishchenko is a Russian synchronized swimmer. Member of the national team of our country. Honored Master of Sports of Russia. Olympic champion of the 2008 games in Beijing, sixteen-time World champion, seven-time European champion, absolute European champion in 2010, the only synchronized swimmer who won all 4 events in the history of the European Championships.
Svetlana Romashina- Russian athlete - synchronized swimmer. Member of the national team. Honored Master of Sports of Russia. Olympic champion in 2008 in Beijing, ten-time World champion, four-time European champion.
Anastasia Davydova- eminent Russian athlete - synchronized swimmer. Honored Master of Sports of Russia. Four-time Olympic champion in synchronized swimming, thirteen-time World champion, seven-time European champion. The best synchronized swimmer of the first decade of the 21st century.
Our synchronized swimmers have always been a strong competitor to athletes from other countries. WITH current generation Russian synchronized swimming will always be at a decent level.
Five-time Olympic champion, 18-time world champion, 10-time European champion - it's all about her. Svetlana Romashina trains eight hours a day and spends most of her life in the pool. Where does synchronism come from, how to deal with fear and why sailing- it's cool, read Svetlana's monologue.
From the "paddling pool" to the Olympics
I was six when my parents sent me to the swimming section - in fact, it was an ordinary “paddling pool”, where I went solely to learn how to swim and stay on the water. But after a couple of months, the coach said that there was nothing for me to do in the “paddling pool”, and sent me to a normal pool. It so happened (and quite by accident) that instead of the usual pool, I ended up in a deep one - in the pool where synchronized swimmers were engaged. I remember that we were then told that synchronized swimming is a developing and very beautiful sport that is perfect for a girl. From that moment, in fact, my formation as a professional athlete begins. Of course, in the beginning there was no question of high results, but when at the age of ten I switched to coach Tatyana Evgenievna Danchenko, my parents seriously thought about my sports career. At first, my parents thought, and then - after the first successes - I myself already wanted this. I remember at the age of 11 I said that I would become an Olympic champion. She said, and seven years later she held her first Olympic medal in her hands.
Frankly, there were moments (especially in adolescence) when I wanted to quit everything. At the age of 15, I moved to the senior team and began to train hard - my peers were finishing school at that time, walking and talking. At that time I really wanted to get involved in sports and live a normal life. But now, looking back, I do not regret anything, on the contrary, I am happy that life turned out that way.
I think my main secret- in my own character, namely - in purposefulness. It is very important to be able to set goals and go to them, no matter what. Such maximalism, in principle, is inherent in many athletes. Still, for the most part, we all dream of "gold". I can say that my first medal was silver. And I was very offended. I remember that I then said: “Further on, all the medals will be only gold.” And so it was.
In synchronized swimming, flexibility and physique are very important - often, when taking a child into a section, coaches even pay attention to the texture of his parents. Nevertheless, the desire of the athlete himself still plays a decisive role. When I first started, I did not have any special inclinations - as a child, I was generally a rather chubby child, without stretching and without flexibility. And the fact that I became an Olympic champion is not the result of natural gifts, but of colossal work and desire. And, of course, I certainly would not have coped without my mother. In fact, she then took the entire preparation process under her control - she forbade me to eat rolls, sat with me on the splits and helped with the lessons.
The synchronicity of movements, in my opinion, is the result not only of hard work, but also of hundreds of hours spent together. Just imagine, we live on camps that last six months, and sometimes a year; we see each other more often than relatives (sometimes we catch ourselves copying habits and adopting manners on each other). But nevertheless, I cannot say that all nine or even twelve people in the team are best friends. Of course not. But it does not matter if the relationship is based on mutual respect and understanding. We have exactly that.
It's always scary before a competition. It’s scary that the program needs to be done perfectly, and that it can be insanely difficult and difficult. The feelings we experience are simply beyond words. Hands and legs tremble, oxygen is sorely lacking, dizzy - some athletes in general, due to excitement, can go to the bottom right during the performance. There are always fears, and the ability to resist them comes only with experience. It cannot be said that with each new start we are less worried and less worried. No, we're just used to this state - our body already needs this adrenaline to be in good shape. Sometimes we notice: if we are not afraid, then something is wrong.
From synchronized swimming to sailing regatta
The program for the season is set at the beginning of the year, after which we develop it for a long time and only in July or May, during the main competitions, do we show it. Two or three months before the competition, our day looks like this: getting up early in the morning, having breakfast and jumping into the water - the first training session starts at eight and lasts an average of four and a half hours, then at 12:30 we go to Gym. In the gym, both OFP and “dry” training are waiting for us - everything that we do in the water with our feet, here we do it with our hands. This is necessary so that the sense of rhythm is perfect - if the music is turned off during the performance, ours should be developed so well that we can complete the program to the end and not get lost. After classes in the gym, we have lunch and rest - someone goes for a massage, and someone sleeps. At 17:30, the second training session in the pool begins, which usually lasts until 22:00-22:30. Then we have dinner and go to bed (of course, falling asleep after such loads is not easy).
In the pool, we not only hone the program, but also perform all kinds of exercises. For example, we swim eight times in 50-meter crawl with a breath hold: 45 seconds you swim, 15 - you rest. At the same time, we are not limited to only one crawl - on the contrary, due to the fact that each style involves different groups muscles, it turns out to develop comprehensively. For example, we have an exercise on the back, during which we swim only on our hands with legs apart - this is done in order to develop shoulder joints and reduce their risk of injury.
If the coach competently and consistently develops his athlete, then training will only strengthen the body, but if a non-professional takes up the matter, then, of course, he can do harm. For example, we have such an element as a screw - we perform it while going under water - and so, from the very beginning, the coach must make sure that the athlete can spin in both directions, otherwise there is a high risk of developing a spinal curvature. There are a lot of such moments in synchronized swimming, and if you take into account all the nuances and know the specifics of this sport well, then health problems can be avoided.
Previously, at a transitional age, I had to monitor my weight, but then this need disappeared - the weight began to go away on its own. And this is more a minus than a plus - after all muscle mass goes away too. And to avoid unnecessary losses, the coach makes us eat even during training - we always have a plate with nuts, chocolate and dried fruits on the side. Of course, to swim 4.5 hours, you need strength. A lot of strength.
My passion for sailing began exactly four years ago, after the Olympics in London - then my husband invited me to take part in the regatta with him. I participated, and now we almost always sail together. We walk along the coast of Turkey, Greece, Croatia, once we were even in the Caribbean. This is what I like about sailing - the range of places where you can visit is very large. True, for some reason, many people think that this is an insanely expensive pleasure that cannot be afforded. But actually it is not. The price is the same as a week's vacation on the beach. Same, only more interesting. After all, on the one hand, a sail is the sea, a beach and a tan, and on the other, a movement that is so necessary and which is sometimes very much in Everyday life lacks.
After the 2016 Olympic Games, which ended with another triumph for the Russian synchronized swimming team, a major update awaited the Russian team. The main stars - five-time Olympic champions Natalya Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina - announced a pause in their careers. As a result, the coaching staff during the World Cup had to go to bold experiments. So, for the first time since junior age, Svetlana Kolesnichenko performed in the competition of soloists and won gold. Alexandra Patskevich had to make her debut in duets, but she did not flinch either, winning in a pair with the same Kolesnichenko. Group competitions were next in line - by the way, Kolesnichenko and Patskevich were not included in the Russian team. However, Svetlana herself thanked the head coach Tatyana Pokrovskaya for such a decision, explaining that it would be “morally difficult” for her to perform in the group as well.
As a result, the composition of the Russian G8 appeared to be radically updated. Of the Rio Olympic champions, only Maria Shurochkina and Vlada Chigiryova remained in the roster. At 22, they found themselves in the role of veterans of the national team, and the whole burden of responsibility fell on their fragile shoulders.
The rest are even younger. Twin sisters Anastasia and Daria Bayandin will turn 21 only in November. 20 years old and Maria Golyadkina with Darina Valitova. Veronika Kalinina is only 18, and Polina Kamar is 17. Valitova, however, two years ago in Kazan managed to become the world champion in mixed doubles paired with Alexander Maltsev.
With the sharply rejuvenated composition of the Russian national team, it was necessary to reaffirm their own hegemony in synchronized swimming. However, when such a person as Tatyana Pokrovskaya is at the head of the team, there can be no doubt about the success of the case. Tatyana Nikolaevna has been working with the Russian national team since 1998 and during this time she has trained more than one golden team.
“Of course, it was in connection with the departure of Ishchenko and Romashina that there were certain concerns, but the professionalism of the coaches who train synchronized swimmers for the national team continues to bear fruit. I have already talked about the group, and after all, girls who recently left the junior team also entered its composition at the World Cup. During this year, Pokrovskaya did a great job so that they could complete the Olympic technical program. As a result, the Russian team continues to hold a very high bar, ”the former ward of Pokrovskaya, three-time Olympic champion Olga Brusnikina, told RT.
- Reuters
Gold in the heat
As a result, the performance in Budapest turned out to be difficult for the updated Russian team. In the capital of Hungary, on this day, thermometers showed above 30 ºC, and the competitions were held in outdoor pool. As luck would have it, the domestic team received the last, 12th, number and had to wait for all the rivals to perform.
But the girls were not embarrassed. Once in the pool, they did everything perfectly. The elements in their performance looked simply amazing. It seemed like they had been performing together for many years. Of course, this team is still far from the one that won Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro, but before next games three more years. However, even now the Russian team has turned out to be inaccessible to competitors. The domestic eight scored 96.0109 points and was almost two points ahead of the second Chinese women (94.2165) - a whole gulf in synchronized swimming. It is curious that the representatives of the Celestial Empire chose a technical program with Russian folk motives. Bronze in a stubborn struggle with Ukraine was won by Japanese women (93.1590).
"There is a team change"
But Tatyana Pokrovskaya, after the end of the competition, finally agreed to call her wards a team.
“I was very worried about this group. Training is one thing, but I didn’t know how athletes would behave in competitions. At the preliminary stage, they seemed to be warming up, a little cautious. And they did well today. I am pleased. There is a team. Before the championship, I said: “There is no team, there is no team ...” And now I can say that the team was born. There is a change to the team that I called “animals” - when the girls came out - everyone was trembling, energy was in full swing from them, ”the All Sport agency quotes the coach as saying.
Pokrovskaya also said what she thinks about the Chinese women who have chosen the music to which the Russians once performed.
"For technical program Chinese women chose Russian folk motifs. And for the free program they took "Prayer"! It was our favorite Olympic program. The girls even asked not to put her with anyone else. Alas, this music is not only written for us. We ourselves found it on the Internet and cannot prevent others from using it. But still, it's embarrassing. After all, I processed it, specially accelerated it at the end ... And now it seems that the Chinese took it and simply added another 30 seconds to our version. Here is the music for our current programs - this is an exclusive. It was written by Denis Garnizov, who collaborates with the Todes ballet. A very promising young composer in particular in working with dance groups. His father, Alexei Garnizov, used to write for Todes, and now Denis continues his work. I’m already taking his third melody - he wrote two especially for us, and the third - “Dinosaurs” - I found it on the Internet and asked permission, ”added Pokrovskaya.
In turn, the Olympic champion Vlada Chigireva, who won the seventh gold of the world championships, admitted that she was still worried.
“Each performance is exciting for us, and today the sunny weather also made its own adjustments - it was very hot. But it was also hot from the support of our fans. We go to the start without confidence in our victory, the main thing for us is to fight with ourselves. Every time we worry that something might go wrong, but we worked to the maximum, so we got such marks, ”TASS quotes Chigiryova.
For several Olympic cycles in a row, the Russian women's synchronized swimming team has been methodically collecting all the first awards at the world's largest tournaments. One of the "golden" mermaids of this team was Maria Gromova, who successfully performed at high level over ten years. During this time, she managed to win three Olympics, become a multiple world and European champion.
pool life
Maria Igorevna Gromova was born in Moscow in 1984. Her parents tried to ensure that their daughter went in for sports, tried to attach her to the section on rhythmic gymnastics, figure skating. However, for these sports, little Masha was a bit large, so I had to look for other ways. This is how synchronized swimming appeared in the biography of Maria Gromova. An important role in the final decision was played by the fact that it was the least traumatic sport, and the risk of harm to health was minimized here.
Masha came to the pool at the age of six, like all children, she first learned to stay on the water, to swim. Gradually, the girls of her group began to perform some elements, to reveal their abilities to the mentors. Maria's first coach was Elena Piskareva, who remained by her side throughout her career.
Gromova herself at first did not burn with a special desire to overcome herself, to do tedious stretching exercises. Like all children, she wanted to play, go out with friends. However, it so happened that she unsuccessfully performed at some children's competitions, being at the tail of the group. Here the character has already leaped up, and the girl began to reach out to her friends, trying to become the best. The results went by themselves, she began to get into the youth teams of the country, being a year younger than the girls of her age category.
Transition to adult level
Already at the age of sixteen, Maria Gromova got into the main national team of the country, falling under the head coach of synchronized swimming Tatyana Pokrovskaya. Orders in the team were pretty tough. Being a maximalist in essence, Pokrovskaya sought to hone each element of the program to the ideal level, forcing her pupils to repeat the same movements many times.
The pool, where synchronized swimmers were training, was empty after the evening, swimmers, jumpers from the tower left, but Maria Gromova and her teammates trained to exhaustion, sometimes lingering until twelve o'clock at night. Under such conditions, there was not even a need for tight control over young girls outside of training, since they themselves did not experience any other needs other than rest and sleep.
These titanic efforts were not in vain, Pokrovskaya's wards invariably took all the first places in big tournaments. In 2001, Maria Gromova for the first time in her life became the world champion in group exercises, then in the same year she took the European Cup.
Collecting medals
For her first Olympics in 2004, the Moscow athlete approached in the status of a multiple world champion. In 2003, another Golden medal world championships, won the European Cup. However Olympic Games was a special tournament during which sports fans forgot about hockey and football and discovered other sports, including synchronized swimming.
For the period of preparation, the stop in the national team became truly barracks. Every day there were two training sessions, each of which lasted at least five hours. After such a drill, the movements of the girls at the tournament itself became worked out to automatism, they performed the most difficult cascades of jumps and lifts with a smile on their faces.
Rivals from China and Spain tried to catch up with the Russians, but it was impossible. So in 2004, Maria Gromova became an Olympic champion for the first time in her life.
The competition within the national team was very tough, talented juniors breathed in the back, but Maria found her niche in the team. Being a relatively large girl (height 172 cm, weight 61 kg), she played the role of "Atlanta" in the team. That is, during the supports, she was at the bottom and held a teammate on her shoulders, being a kind of springboard for jumping. At the same time, it was still strictly forbidden to touch the bottom with her feet; she performed this athletic work while floating on the water.
Departure into the shadows and return
In 2008, after winning her second Olympics, Maria Gromova decided to take a break from her career. After winning all possible tournaments, it was difficult to find further motivation for performances, and the athlete left the pool.
She spent her free time sensibly, devoting it to her education. Unlike many athletes, she chose not a sports university, but an institute of economics, management and law.
However, it is always difficult to end a career at only twenty-four. Two years later, Maria Gromova, along with several other friends in group exercises returns to the team and begins to prepare for the London 2012 Olympics.
Prepared the Lost World program for the main tournament of the four-year period, the preparation of which took place in strict secrecy. Rivals from other teams have more than once borrowed especially spectacular tricks from Russian team, and the repetition of excesses tried to avoid.
The new program abounded with the most complex technical elements, there were about ten pieces of throws and lifts alone. A special responsibility fell on Mary, who, with such elements, was a kind of foundation for a complex structure. However, she did her job perfectly and helped the team win another victory, thus becoming a three-time Olympic champion.
In 2012, Maria Gromova made the final decision to leave the sport and left her active career.
