Russian synchronized swimmers Svetlana Romashina and Alexandra Patskevich arrived at the European Championships in Budapest without Schengen visas. The synchronized swimmers' tournament at Euro 2010 ended on August 8, but Romashina and Patskevich returned to Hungary to cheer for the Russian swimmers and “once again feel the atmosphere of the competition,” writes the Soviet Sport publication .

Earlier this week, both athletes returned to Moscow with the Russian team, as all team members were supposed to fly back together. According to Romashina, upon returning to Russia, she and Patskevich bought tickets to Budapest and flew to Hungary on August 11.

However, at the Budapest airport it turned out that the Russian synchronized swimmers were given single-entry Schengen visas, so they had no right to be on the territory of Hungary. Romashina believes that she and Patskevich should have been warned about the lack of visas upon departure from Moscow.

The synchronized swimmers spent a day at the Budapest airport, and on the morning of August 12 they flew back to Moscow. The athletes feared that they might be kept at the airport until August 15 (return tickets were purchased from Romashina and Patskevich for that day). According to Romashina, they slept on iron benches and were very cold. At this time, the bags and warm clothes of the synchronized swimmers were in the lost luggage area.

At the European Championships in Budapest, the Russian synchronized swimming team won gold medals in all four disciplines - soloists, duets, team competitions and combinations. Romashina became a three-time European champion, and Patskevich a two-time champion.

Russian synchronized swimmers arrived at the European Championships without visas