Day 1 of the AIDA 2022 Pool World Championship in Burgas, Bulgaria saw several competitors on the verge of standing on the winners’ podium only to be let down by incorrect surface protocols.
The first day featured the Dynamic with Bifins (DYNB) discipline.
On the Men’s side, Croatia’s David Custic swam 265m/869ft but earned a red card for not performing the surface protocol in the correct order.
France’s Guillaume Bourdila swam the same distance as Custic, but after review earned a yellow card for placing his hands in the wrong place during his turns, resulting in points deductions for each turn.
Consequently, Croatian Peter Klovar’s 250m/820ft swim wound up earning him a gold medal. Taiwan’s Yueh Shiang Hsu nabbed the silver with a 240m/787ft swim, setting a new national record in the process. Poland’s Karol Karcz earned a bronze with his 210m/689ft swim.
As for the Women, current AIDA World Record holder Magdalena Solich-Talanda of Poland brought home the gold with a 236m/774ft swim (her World Record set last month at the AIDA Polish Freediving Pool Championships was 243m/797ft).
However, there was an intrigue surrounding who would claim the silver and bronze medals. While several athletes had very close results, Ukraine’s Kateryna Sadurska nabbed a silver medal with a 216m/709ft swim, despite the challenge of training in Dahab, Egypt while her country was suffering an invasion.
Japanese national record holder Yasuko Ozeki nearly came home with a bronze via her 209m/686ft swim, but earned a red card due to not successfully performing her surface protocol.
The bronze medal subsequently went to Lidija Lijic of Croatia, who swam 209m/686ft.
Check out a video of Day 1 below.
(Featured Image credit: AIDA)
