Funchal 2025: Five things to know about the European Artistic Swimming Championships
With the European Aquatics Artistic Swimming Championships Funchal 2025 scheduled to run from June 2 to 5 at the Penteada Olympic Swimming Pools Complex we take a look at the history of artistic swimming at the European Championships…
Joining the party: Artistic swimming, then known as synchronised swimming, became part of the programme at the 1974 European Championships. With only women competing, Great Britaintook all three gold medals across the Solo, Duet and Team events, with Jane Holland leaving the Austrian capital with three titles.
Men join the party: The 2016 European Championships in London marked the first time men were allowed to compete at the European Championships – in mixed duet free and technical routines.
Italy’s Giorgio Minisini, who retired last year, has been a regular medallist at the European Championships since 2016. With Manila Flamini he won silver in the mixed duet technical routine in 2016 and 2018, and gold with Lucrezia Ruggiero at the Rome 2022 Championships and in the 2023 edition that took place within the third European Games in Poland.
In the mixed duet free he won silver in 2016 and 2018 with, respectively, Mariangela Perrupato and Flamini. With Ruggiero he won gold in 2022 and silver in 2023.
Minisini landmark: Men’s individual events were introduced at the European Championships at the 2022 edition in Rome, where both the solo free and solo technical titles were won by home athlete Giorgio Minisini.
In Funchal the solo free and technical titles will be defended respectively by Britain’s 19-year-old Ranjuo Tomblin and 21-year-old Dennis Gonzalez of Spain.
Historic edition: The imminent competition in Funchal marks the first stand-alone championships following their transformation from the European Cup.
The European Aquatics Artistic Swimming Championships took place outside the larger European Aquatics Championships for the first time in 2023, when they formed part of the third European Games in the Polish city of Oswiecim.
Reigning Spain? Spain as they finished top of the medals table with a total of four, of which three were gold. Dennis Gonzalez partnered Mireia Hernandez to win the mixed duet free routine and he and Emma Garcia took silver in the mixed duet technical. The other golds for Spain came in the team technical and free routines.
The Spanish remained on top at the 2024 European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, where all four of their medals were gold, with Gonzalez topping the podium in the men’s solo technical routine, the duet free with Garcia and the duet technical with Hernandez. The other gold came in the team technical routine.
Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics
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