European Swimming Championships in Rome
Gold and bronze for water jumpers: “Huge relief”
Lou Massenberg and Tina Punzel are happy about the gold medal at the award ceremony. photo
© Jokleindl/dpa
On the third day of competition, the German team celebrates the first medal in diving at the European Championships in Rome. Tina Punzel and Lou Massenberg are crowned European champions.
Tina Punzel grabbed Lou Massenberg by the shoulders, shook him and happily fell into her dubbing partner’s arms. The German water jumpers got their first EM medal in Rome after two screwed up days – and then immediately gold.
“It was a huge relief,” said Massenberg at the moment he saw the “1” on the scoreboard at the Foro Italico. “To be at the top again after 2018 is really just awesome. It can’t go any better.” Even then, he and Punzel had become European champions in mixed synchronized jumping from the three-meter board.
Shortly after the competition between the 21-year-old Berliner and the six-year-old Dresdener, Christina Wassen won bronze in the high diving. “Hopefully the knot has now burst,” she said. With 314.10 points, the 23-year-old was only beaten by the British winner Andrea Spendolini Sirieix (333.60) and the Ukrainian Sofija Lyskun (329.80). The second German starter, Pauline Pfeif, took fourth place.
Massenberg and Punzel had not previously made any major mistakes. With 294.69 points, they relegated the British duo Grace Reid and James Heatly (290.76) and the World Cup runners-up Chiara Pellacani and Matteo Santoro (283.56) from Italy to second and third place.
“Just really awesome”
“We wanted to fight back and that we’ve managed to do it that way is just really cool,” said Punzel. Previously, the hoped-for medals for the German jumpers had not been given on two days of competition. “The pressure is just increasing day by day, you can’t deny that,” said Punzel. “I felt the pressure a bit, but I knew what we were capable of.”
National coach Lutz Buschkow was also relieved. The 64-year-old reported on a team meeting the evening before and clear words. “We have a relatively open atmosphere in the team – with a few sparks flying,” he said with a smile.
His top jumper Punzel, who has a special leadership role in the team after the career end of record European champion Patrick Hausding, has the next chance for a medal the very next day. In synchronized jumping from the three-meter board, she and Lena Hentschel are among the favorites. The two had won bronze together behind China and Canada at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.