Olympic round up: Synchro pair happy with tenth

Switzerland has finished tenth in the synchronised swimming duet competition, following a series of impressive performances by Madeleine Perk and Belinda Schmid.

Having reached their original goal in qualifying for Tuesday’s free routine final the Swiss women managed to climb above the swimmers from Korea and Brazil in the final rankings.

For 19-year-old Schmid it was an incredible Olympic debut. “I never thought I would reach such a level,” she exclaimed after the final.

Having got this far Schmid must now choose a new partner if she is to continue. Perk, at 25, has already announced her decision to retire after 14 years in the sport.

Corinne Rüegg, the team’s substitute swimmer in Sydney, is expected to be the first choice to replace Perk.

Switzerland enjoyed a better day in the water than on it, with the country’s sailors making the worst of some bad weather. In the men’s Finn class, Peter Theurer finished the fifth and sixth fleet races in 18th and 19th place respectively.

The results were Theurer’s worst so far and saw him drop to 17th in the overall classification with five races to go.

In the Star races, Flavio and Renato Marazzi had an even worse day. The Bernese brothers were disqualified from the first race of the day, after colliding with the Greek boat. They were then forced to abandon their next race after suffering problems with their mast.

The Marazzis are now second from last in the overall standings. Like Theurer, they still have five of their 11 races to complete.

swissinfo with agencies