Athens 2025: First medals awarded as Junior Artistic Swimming Championships begin in earnest
Neutral athletes came out on-top in both artistic swimming finals on day two of the programme at the European Aquatics Junior Artistic Swimming Championships Athens 2025, as the competition got into full swing.
The first title was given out to Valeriia Plekhanova as she edged out Spain’s Isabel Cui Xu in the Women’s Solo Tech final thanks to better transitions in her routine, despite the lower difficulty. A crescendo of athleticism sent her over the line as her artistic impressions in general won the day to a final score of 236.0250.
Cui Xu fell foul of what was an evening of fine margins. Respectable marks across the board in a similar way just weren’t enough to see her upend Plekhanova, but her silver medal was the least her performance deserved, as she finished on a score of 234.3525.
Ismini Maria Karavsili of Greece took the host country’s first medal of the competition, to rapturous applause from all fans in attendance. Her more measured performance earned her the bronze thanks to a score of 227.400.
Neutral athletes again then took the Mixed Duet Free title, with Alina Rumiantseva and Zakhar Trofimov’s incredible 46.25 difficulty routine faring up well given the complexity, as their choreo and transitions won the day. They finished on a score of 280.8200 – 31 points more than their nearest competitors.
The Spanish team once again took the silver medal, this time through De Manuel Rofdriguez and Huidobro De La Fuente. Their choreo one of the highest-scoring of the field, and their other elements being competitive meant that their average ensured them a place on the podium thanks to a solid artist impression score, with a total tally of 249.4767.
Italy’s Ginevra Marchetti and Gabriele Minak managed to make the most of a routine that ultimately saw a drop in the difficulty, but still managing to impress with the choreo and transitions in sections to make the podium themselves with bronze on a score of 242.7025.
Earlier in the day, the Team Free preliminary saw teams progress to the final of the event, which will take place on Sunday 29 June as the final event of the programme. Both Italy and Spain made strong claims for that final, with the teams coming at it in different ways. The Italians opted for a tough acro and hybrid routine, which they managed to keep clean and progress as leaders with a score of 279.1445.
Spain adopted a similar approach, but came out of the gates with pin-point precision – dropping some difficulty points in the sixth segment to see them finish in second on 274.1038, as hosts Greece finished marginally behind the top-two, but still comfortably through in third on 249.5801.
Three finals, in the Women’s Solo Free, Mixed Duet Tech and Team Technical all feature on tomorrow’s programme, as the competition begins to ramp up.
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Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
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