Fernando Díaz del Río Soto (born 15 February 2003) is a Spanish artistic swimmer. He was the first man to win a silver medal in a solo male artistic swimming event at a LEN European Aquatics Championships, winning the first silver medal in the solo technical routine, and afterwards the first silver medal in the solo free routine, at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships. He is an eight-time medalist at FINA Artistic Swimming World Series, including four gold medals, one silver medal, and three bronze medals spanning solo and mixed duet routines.
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| Full name | Fernando Díaz del Río Soto | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Spanish | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 15 February 2003[1] Spain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Spain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Artistic swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Background
editDíaz del Río formerly trained with the La Palma club and currently trains at Sant Cugat High Performance Center in Barcelona.[2]
Career
edit2019–2021
editAt the leg of the 2019 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series held at the Palace of Water Sports in mid-April in Kazan, Russia, Díaz del Río won a bronze medal in the mixed duet technical routine with a score of 74.3859 points on 19 April.[3] One day later, he won a bronze medal in the mixed duet free routine with a score of 77.3667 points.[4] In 2021, as part of the leg of the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series held in a virtual format and hosted by the United States in February, he scored 77.4407 points in the mixed duet technical routine, which ranked second overall, however he did not win a medal as only the highest scoring duo from each country was eligible for a medal, and he and his partner ranked as the second-highest scoring duo from Spain.[5] Approximately three months later, at the leg of the World Series held in a virtual format and hosted by Canada, he and his partner achieved a score of 80.7076 points in the mixed duet technical routine, however were again ineligible for a medal as they were outscored by another team from Spain.[6]
2022
edit2022 Artistic Swimming World Series
editFor the first leg of the 2022 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series, conducted in virtual format by the United States and Canada in March, Díaz del Río performed his choreography in the solo technical routine to music by English musical artist Labrinth, earning 76.4571 points and winning the silver medal.[7] The following month, he scored 76.2795 points in the solo technical routine at the leg of the World Series conducted at Piscine Georges Vallerey in Paris, France, winning the gold medal 15.4021 points ahead of silver medalist Javier Ruisanchez of Puerto Rico.[8] In May, as part of the World Series leg conducted in virtual format by Australia, he won a gold medal in the solo technical routine with choreography to music by American band Aerosmith and a final score of 74.2865 points, which was less than five points ahead of silver medalist Eduard Kim of Kazakhstan.[9] The following day, he won the bronze medal in the mixed duet free routine with a score of 81.7333 points, finishing just 1.5334 points behind gold medalists Tomoka Sato and Yotaro Sato of Japan.[10]
Performing in-person later the same month at olympic Athletic Center of Athens in Athens, Greece, for the final leg of the 2022 World Series, Díaz del Río won the gold medal in the male solo technical routine with a personal best score of 77.9618 points from the World Series circuit.[11] He earned his final medal of the circuit the following day, winning his first gold medal in the solo free routine with a score of 80.3333 points and a lead of over three points ahead of silver medalist Nicolò Ogliari of Italy.[12]
2022 European Aquatics Championships
editAs part of the artistic swimming program at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships, contested starting 11 August at Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, solo male events were included in competition for the first time at a LEN European Aquatics Championships.[13][14][15][16] Performing his choreography in the first solo event, the solo technical routine on 12 August, to music by American band Aerosmith, he achieved a score of 79.4952 points to win the silver medal, 6.2082 points behind gold medalist Giorgio Minisini of Italy and 20.6117 points ahead of bronze medalist Ivan Martinović of Serbia.[13][14][15][16][17] With his win, he became the first silver medalist in a solo male artistic swimming event, and first silver medalist in the men's solo technical routine, at a LEN European Aquatics Championships.[13][14][15][16] On 14 August, he became the first silver medalist in the men's solo free routine at a LEN European Aquatics Championships, winning the silver medal in the event with choreography to music by America musical artist Danny Elfman and a final score of 83.3333 points, which was 5.3333 points ahead of bronze medalist Quentin Rakotomalala of France and 5.1334 points behind gold medalist Giorgio Minisini of Italy.[2][18][19][20][21][22]
2023
edit2023 Artistic Swimming World Cup
editFor the first stop of the first Artistic Swimming World Cup organized by World Aquatics, contested in March in Markham, Canada, Díaz del Río won the silver medal in the solo free routine on the second day of competition with a score of 168.4000 points, finishing behind Giorgio Minisini and ahead of Eduard Kim.[23][24] Later in the day, he and his partner Emma García achieved a score of 188.7458 points in the mixed duet technical routine, however they were ineligible for a medal as they were not the highest-ranking duo in the event from Spain.[25] The third and final day, he and Mireia Hernandez Luna ranked third in the mixed duet free routine with a 194.5083, however the bronze medal went to the duo from Belgium as they were not the highest-scoring Spaniards.[26] For his final event, the mixed team acrobatic, he contributed to a final mark of 189.6875 points, which ranked sixth overall.[27]
International championships
edit| Meet | solo technical routine | solo free routine |
|---|---|---|
| EC 2022 |  (79.4951) |
(83.3333) |
World series and world cup circuits
editThe following medals Díaz del Río has won at Artistic Swimming World Series (through 2022) and Artistic Swimming World Cup (2023) circuits.[28]
| Edition | Gold medals | Silver medals | Bronze medals | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 2022 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 2023 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 4 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
References
edit- ^ "Fernando Diaz Del Rio Soto". FINA. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ a b Marta, Laura (14 August 2022). "Fernando Díaz, plata en el solo libre" (in Spanish). ABC. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2019 – Leg 3: Results Mixed Duet Technical". FINA. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2019 – Leg 3: Results Mixed Duet Free". FINA. 20 April 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2021 – Leg 1: Results Mixed Duet Technical". FINA. February 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2021 – Leg 5: Results Mixed Duet Technical". FINA. May 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ Hennigan, Caoimhe (19 March 2022). "Technical events feature during day one of the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2022 opener". FINA. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2022 – Leg 2: Results Men Solo Technical". FINA. 2 April 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ Croes, Maureen (7 May 2022). "FINA Artistic Swimming World Series for first time hosted virtualy by Australia". FINA. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "FINA Artistic Swimming World Series – Leg 4: Results Mixed Duet Free". FINA. 8 May 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2022 – Super Final Leg 1: Results Men Solo Technical". FINA. 20 May 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2022 – Super Final Leg 1: Results Men Solo Free". FINA. 21 May 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ a b c Marta, Laura (12 August 2022). "Fernando Díaz, una plata que abre el camino" (in Spanish). ABC. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ a b c Martínez, Alberto (12 August 2022). "Una plata para la historia" (in Spanish). Diario AS. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ a b c Pérez, Marta (12 August 2022). "Fernando Díaz del Río, pionero de plata en el estreno del solo masculino" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ a b c "El nadador Fernando Díaz del Río se cuelga la plata en una final histórica" (in Spanish). Heraldo de Aragón. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ LEN (12 August 2022). "European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results Men's Solo Technical Final". Microplus. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ LEN (14 August 2022). "European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results Men's Solo Free Final". Microplus. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ Martínez, Alberto (14 August 2022). "Doble récord español y otra medalla de plata en Roma" (in Spanish). Diario AS. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "El español Fernando Díaz del Río logra otra plata en el natación artística del Europeo" (in Spanish). elfinancierocr.com. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "Fernando Díaz del Río se cuelga la plata en la prueba de solo libre, su segunda en el Europeo de sincronizada" (in Spanish). Heraldo de Aragón. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "Ha nacido una estrella" (in Spanish). La Tribuna de Ciudad Real. 15 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup – Markham 2023: Results Men Solo Free". World Aquatics. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ "WORLD CUP MARKHAM / Fernando Díaz del Rio y Lilou Luis, dos platas en Solo Libre" (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Swimming Federation. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ "World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup – Markham 2023: Results Mixed Duet Technical". World Aquatics. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ "World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup – Markham 2023: Results Mixed Duet Free". World Aquatics. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ "World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup – Markham 2023: Results Acrobatic". World Aquatics. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ "Fernando Diaz Del Rio Soto: Medals". FINA. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
