World Championships Diary, Gwangju, July 15, 2019: Chad le Clos Battling Hernia

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - APRIL 12: Chad le Clos wins the 200m freestyle finals in Olympic qualifying time during the finals session on day 3 of the SA National Aquatic Championships and Olympic Trials on April 12 , 2016 at the Kings Park Aquatic Center pool in Durban, South Africa. Photo Credit / Anesh Debiky/Swim SA

Chad Le Clos; Photo Courtesy: Anesh Debiky/Swimming South Africa

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The the 2019 World Championships in Aquatics is underway in Gwangju, Korea. Each day through the event, Swimming World will bring you a round-up of news items in brief beyond our main coverage in our World Championships Diary.

Check out more of our complete World Championship coverage here.

Swimming

Chad le Clos battling hernia

South African star Chad le Clos is battling a hernia, according to Sunday Times, which might require surgery after the World Championships.

He is scheduled to compete in the 100 fly, the 200 fly and the 200 free at the World Championships and is still planning on competing through the pain.

“I’ve been pushing off the wall at 70 percent, 80 percent max in training,” he said, according to the Times. “It’s only [sore] when I push off the wall, not actually when I kick.”

Read the Sunday Times story here.

Artistic Swimming

Russian pair wins Mixed Technical Duet

The final for the Mixed Technical Duet was packed with World Championship medalists from 2015 Kazan and 2017 Budapest. This is the third time that the Mixed Technical Duet is contested at the FINA World Championships.

Russian swimmers Mayya Gurbanberdieva and Aleksandr Maltsev, silver medalists in both 2015 and 2017, were ready to challenge the reigning World Champions Manila Flamini and Giorgio Minisini from Italy. Also in contention for the medals were the duet from the USA Bill May, the 2015 Kazan World Champion, paired with Natalia Vega Figuero, and the Japanese pair, Atsushi Abe and Yumi Adachi.

First to swim was the Russian pair, performing a passionate Tango dance in the water, Gurbanberdieva and Maltsev had an electrifying connection, which captivated the audience. Receiving 92.0749 points from the judges, they were unsurpassable and claimed Russia’s first gold medal in the Technical Mixed Duet event.

Manila Flamini and Giorgio Minisini, the Italian duet performed a love story in the water between two different species, a mermaid and a triton. Dramatizing the difficulties needed to be conquered, Flamini and Minisini received 90.8511 from the judges for the silver medal.

Check out more on the artistic swimming here.

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