The U.S. duo of Bill May (Cicero, N.Y.) and Christina Jones won gold Sunday in the first-ever mixed duet technical event at the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia.
May, making his debut in a FINA-sanctioned event, and Jones scored 88.5108 points in the final, edging Russia’s Aleksandr Maltsev and Darina Valitova, who finished at 88.2986.
May and Jones, a 2008 Olympian, had been in second place after Saturday’s preliminary, when they scored 86.7108 points to the Russians’ 88.8539.
“This is a dream a long time in the making,” May said.
Said Jones: “It’s an honor to be a part of this experience, an honor to be at Bill’s side, and an honor to bring the gold to the U.S. This would not have been possible without our coach, Chris Carver, and the support we have had from our team (the Santa Clara Aquamaids).”
May, Jones and Kristina Lum Underwood have been coached in the lead-up to the FINA World Championships by Carver, a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame who led Team USA at three Olympic Games (team gold in 1996, team and duet bronze in 2004) and is the longtime coach of the Aquamaids.
May and Lum Underwood (Las Vegas, Nev.), a 2000 Olympian who was a four-time national duet champion with May, will compete in the mixed duet free preliminary Tuesday (11:45 a.m. local).
News courtesy of USA Synchro. Video courtesy of Universal Sports Network, a SwimSwam partner.
