Water Sports
SPORTSMOST OLYMPIC SYNCHRONIZED
SWIMMING GOLD MEDALS (INDIVIDUAL)
At Rio 2 016, Natalia Ishchenko (left) and Svetlana
Romashina (right; both RUS) won gold in the
team and the women’s duet event, bringing their
Olympic total to five golds each. This eÙualled
the record set by former team-mate Anastasia
Davydova (RUS) between Athens 2004 and
London 2012. All three swimmers competed
together in the team event in London.MOST
CONSECUTIVE
GOLD MEDALS IN
A TEAM OLYMPIC
EVENT (FEMALE)
Synchronized diver
Wu Minxia (CHN,
left) won her fourth
consecutive gold
medal at Rio 2016,
equalling the
record shared by
basketballers Lisa
Leslie, Sue Bird,
Tamika Catchings
and Diana Taurasi
(all USA). It was Wu’s
fifth Olympic gold
overall – the most
gold medals won at
the Olympics for
diving (female).Freediving is also known as “apnea”. The term derives from
the Greek word apnoia, which means “without breathing”.FIRST BACKFLIP LANDED IN
A SURFING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS EVENT
On 14 May 2016, Gabriel Medina (BRA) made competitive
surfing history when he landed a backĉip during Yound 2 of
the Oi Rio Pro in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Medina,
who became Brazil’s first ever surfing world champion in 2014,
received perfect scores of 10 from all five ·udges for his ground-
breaking ĉip. +e went on to take third place in the event.Most consecutive international rowing
races won by a men’s coxless pair
The New Zealand duo of Hamish Bond and Eric
Murray are one of the most dominant teams in
the history of rowing. Between 19 Jun 2009 and
11 Aug 2016, they went eight seasons unbeaten,
winning 69 consecutive races, six World
Championships and two Olympic gold medals.
At London 2012, Bond and Murray won their
event in 6 min 8.50 sec, obliterating the decade-
old record for fastest coxless pairs rowing
(men’s class) by more than 6 sec.
Fastest row double sculls
lightweight class (female)
At the World Yowing Cup regatta in VoznaÅ,
Poland, on 19 Jun 2016, the Dutch duo of
Maaike Head and Ilse Paulis set a time of
6 min 47.69 sec. This surpassed the previous
mark of 6 min 48.38 sec, set by the British
pair of Charlotte Taylor and Katherine
Copeland on 20 Jun 2015.
First tie for an Olympic medal
in canoeing/kayaking
On 20 Aug 2016, the final of the men’s Olympic
200 m K-1 sprint was too close to call. The
bronze medal was shared between Saúl
Craviotto (ESP) and Ronald Rauhe (DEU),
who both finished in 35.662 sec.
Longest freedive (dynamic apnea, with fins)
On 3 Jul 2016, Mateusz Malina (POL) and Giorgos
Panagiotakis (GRE) both swam a horizontal
distance of 300 m (984 ft 3 in) underwater in
Turku, Finland. This is equivalent to six lengths of
an Olympic 50-m (1 64 - ft) pool in a single breath!Deepest freedive (free immersion/
free apnea, women)
On 6 Sep 2016, Jeanine Grasmeijer (NLD)
reached a depth of 92 m (301 ft 10 in) at
Kralendijk in Bonaire, Leeward Antilles.
Free-immersion divers cannot use any
form of propulsion equipment.MOST OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS IN CANOE
SPRINT AT A SINGLE GAMES (FEMALE)
On 16–20 Aug 2016, Hungary’s Danuta Kozák
went on a golden winning streak at the Rio
Olympics. She won three 500 m canoe titles, in
the K-1, K-2 and K-4. Kozák became only the third
canoeist ever to claim three golds at a single
Games, joining Vladimir Parfenovich (USSR/
now BLR, 1980) and Ian Ferguson (NZ, 1984).Most KPWT Freestyle World
Championships by a woman
Gisela Pulido (ESP) won 10 kiteboarding
World Kite Tour (previously PKRA) Freestyle
Championships: in 2004–11, 20 13 and 20 15.
In 2012 and 2014, Pulido was runner-up
to Karolina Winkowska (POL), who came
second in 2015.Most points scored in a WSL Surfing
World Championship season (female)
Tyler Wright (AUS) dominated the 2016 World
Surfing League (WSL) Women’s Championship
Tour, winning five of the 10 events on her
way to the title. Her tally of 72,500 ranking
points eclipsed the previous best of 66,200,
by Hawaii’s Carissa Moore in 2015.MOST INTERNATIONAL WATER POLO TITLES
HELD SIMULTANEOUSLY (MALE)
When it comes to water polo, Serbia’s men are in a league of their own. On
20 Aug 2016, they beat rivals Croatia 11–7 to win Olympic gold, completing
a set of five international titles comprising the 2014 World Cup, 2015 World
League, 2015 World Championships and 2016 European Championships.I n 2 0 0 9,
Medina became
the youngest
surfer to win a World
Qualifying Series event.
He won the Maresia
Surf International aged
15 years 202^
days –
just 10^ days after
turning pro!