SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING : Ohio State Leads in Three Events

Ohio State University’s whimsical circus-theme team performance was the highlight on the third day of competition at the U.S. Open Synchronized Swimming Championships at Heritage Park Aquatics Complex in Irvine.

Ohio State posted a semifinal score of 94.600 for the crowd-pleasing routine, which won the collegiate championships in March and will be featured at the U.S. Olympic Festival next week.

The Arizona Aqua Stars were second in the team semifinals with a score of 94.280. The Cincinnati Synchrogators, swimming to Disney’s “Aladdin,” were third with a score of 93.880.

In trio semifinals, Ohio State’s flashy performance to Motown music earned 89.200 points to 88.840 for the Buffalo Swimkins and 87.200 for the Cincinnati Synchrogators.

Kiersten Reno and Shea Tanabe of Ohio State earned 84.960 points to win the duet preliminaries. The Walnut Creek Aquanuts placed second with 84.120 points, ahead of the Santa Clara Aquamaids, with 83.200.

Tanabe, 22, of Tacoma, Wash., was a part of all three winning performances. Compulsory figures follow duet and solo semifinals today, with all finals Saturday.