'Exposure to artistic swimming can attract youngsters in India', says Thailand coach Claudia Tapparelli

Ahmedabad, Oct 7 (IANS) For the past eight years, Thailand has placed its trust in Italian siblings Claudia Tapparelli, head coach, and Massimo Tapparelli, assistant coach, to lead the country’s artistic swimming program.

At the ongoing 11th Asian Aquatics Championships 2025 at the newly built Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad, the duo has been among the loudest supporters, cheering passionately for their team.

Interestingly, their enthusiasm has been matched by the Indian spectators, many of whom are witnessing artistic swimming live for the first time. Drawn in by the high-energy music, colourful routines and athletic grace of the competitors, local audiences have added to the electric setting.

“We’d like to thank India for hosting the Asian Aquatics Championships because it’s not easy to find competitions in Asia where athletes can really measure themselves against other nations. It’s also easier and more affordable for countries in the region to participate in Asian meets, which helps athletes gain valuable experience. We’ve received tremendous support from spectators, and it’s been wonderful to see kids dancing along in the stands. Even though India is just hosting artistic swimming this time, this exposure can definitely attract youngsters to the sport,” said Claudia.

Artistic swimming, one of the most visually captivating aquatic disciplines, demands immense strength, control, and coordination. Similar to diving, athletes must declare their movements beforehand and are then scored on their execution, synchronization, artistic impression, and difficulty.

Reflecting on the journey of Thai artistic swimming, Claudia said, “In Italy, artistic swimming is quite big, almost every city has two or three clubs, adding up to about 300 across the country. But in Thailand, we only have two clubs in total. Most of our national athletes have been built from scratch. Some we scouted from swimming or water polo, and then trained to reach this level.”

Thailand have already left a strong impression in Ahmedabad with Kantinan Adisaisiributr and Pongpimporn Pongsuwan clinching the gold medal in the Mixed Duet Technical event on Sunday, while Adisaisiributr paired with Supitchaya Songpan to win gold in the Mixed Duet Free the following day. The Thai team also secured Silver medals in both the Team Technical and Team Free categories, marking their most successful showing in recent years.

“At the last World Cup in Egypt, we actually defeated Italy in the mixed duet, which made us very proud,” Claudia added with a smile. “When we started, we had just four athletes. Now, there are about 50 to 60 across the country. COVID was a major setback because the pools were closed for so long, we lost an entire generation of potential athletes but the growth since then has been encouraging, and we are really happy with the performances here.”

--IANS

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