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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 Sep. - 6 Oct. 1999 Issue No. 449 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 Sep. - 6 Oct. 1999 Issue No. 449
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Synchronised victories
By Dalia El-Hennawy
Give it a splash to win
photo: Mohamed Mossaad
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Egypt's Heliopolis Sporting Club took top honours in two water events held in Cairo simultaneously last week. In synchronised swimming, the club shared top billing with Russia, with each side garnering 544 points. In water polo, Heliopolis defended its title, downing Tunisia 6-5 in the final. The double victory was sweetened by the fact that Heliopolis was playing, not against clubs, but national teams.
Belgium came in third place in the synchronised event with 384 points, South Africa fourth after collecting 345 points while Malaysia finished last on 240 points.
In the championship, the 10th of its kind, Heliopolis and Russia entered the tournament's youngest girls, averaging 15 years old. The teenagers, though, showed a maturity well beyond their years. In the singles, Russia's Svetlana Patrachina took the gold medal, Reem Tarek from Heliopolis the silver and Suzanne Ghazaly from Malaysia the bronze.
In the duet event, sisters Marwa and Reem Tarek of Heliopolis teamed up for the gold medal, Tatiana Pavlova and Galina Zhivova of Russia took the silver and the Malaysian pair of Suzanne Ghazaly and Sara Kamel Youssef settled for the bronze.
In the team event, the Russians made due with six girls instead of eight and ended up losing a point and tying with Heliopolis. The Belgians came in third.
"This being a club competition, it has been very enjoyable," Sophie Sarwat, head of the synchronised swimming committee, said. "The aim was to allow the Heliopolis girls to compete and gain experience from other more advanced teams in the sport. It was a tough competition which should give them an incentive to strive to do better," added Sarwat. "Our goal was not to win but to learn new methods, styles and gain experience from all the athletes taking part."
Twenty-one-year-old Marwa Tarek, winner of the duet event along with sister Reem, has been taking part in the tournament for the past decade. "I feel that every year we gain a lot more experience and the competition is getting harder," Tarek said. "I was very excited to have performed a duet with my younger sister," she added. "This allowed us to become a very strong team and also enabled us to learn from each other."
In water polo, Heliopolis' win gave the club its fifth overall victory in the tournament which was founded in 1990. Morocco, Russia and Saudi Arabia rounded out the countries in the five-day event, with Russia coming in third. Coincidentally, Heliopolis sank Tunisia in the finals last year as well.
"The goal of these tournaments was very simple: for people to enjoy a spectacular competition," Hassan Arafa, Heliopolis' director, said. "The tournaments were of a very high standard and made for great publicity for the club. The countries taking part were very strong and this is what we need if we are to improve in future tournaments," Arafa added.
