Singapore 2025: European artistic swimmers ready to take challenge to China at World Aquatics Championships

Artistic swimmers from Spain, Austria, Great Britain and Italy will challenge for a range of medals when their competition at the World Aquatics Championships 2025 gets underway at the Singapore Sports Hub tomorrow.

While the bulk of the 11 titles that will be contested until July 25 appear likely to be heading the way of China – who won seven at last year’s World Championships in Doha and subsequently won gold in the Paris 2024 team and duet events – European nations have a number of realistic podium targets.

While the two European gold-medal winners from Doha are absent in Singapore – Italy’s Giorgio Minisini, who won men’s solo free gold and solo technical silver in Doha, has retired, and Greece’s solo technical champion Evangelia Platanioti is taking time out –  other potential winners have emerged.

Spain, which won three silvers and a bronze in Doha, looks ready to perform at least as well under the new direction of its three-time Olympic silver medallist Andrea Fuentes, who guided the United States to team silver at the Paris 2024 Games.

Under her direction, 21-year-old Dennis Gonzalez – who won Doha silver in the men’s solo free and, in partnership with Mireia Hernandez, the mixed duet free – has made a ground-breaking appearance in the team acrobatic event this year.

But Gonzalez will now concentrate on the individual and mixed duet events, having won European gold this year partnering Iris Tio Casas in the free routine and Hernandez in the technical event.

Those European Aquatics Championships in Funchal from June 2 to 5 underlined the rising level of Spanish athletes, who topped the medals table with five golds in a total of 11.

Spain is ready to make an impact again in team competition, where they won technical routine silver in Doha.

Austria is hoping for podium places from its accomplished 27-year-old Greek-born triplets Anna-Maria, Eirini and Vasiliki Alexandri, who are now guided by Japan’s former national team coach, Nakajima Tatako.

After the disappointment of missing a medal by one place at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Anna-Maria and Eirini are back in full competitive mode, having won the duet technical event in Funchal.

Meanwhile Vasiliki, who won world solo free and technical silver at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, has earned solo technical bronze at the World Cup stop in Markham, Canada, her first competition in 11 months.

Great Britain has strong medal chances in he women’s duet events through Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe, who earned their country’s first world and Olympic artistic swimming medals last year, taking silver and bronze in Doha and silver in Paris.

Another one to watch will be 19-year-old Ranjuo Tomblin, who became first British male to win European artistic swimming gold last year when he won the solo free title, and who followed up last month by claiming European gold in the men’s technical event.

Italy will also be seeking to replicate the success achieved at this year’s EA Championships, where it was second in the medals table with a total of eight that included golds in the duet free – thanks to Enrica Piccoli and Lucrezia Ruggiero – and the team acrobatic routine.

Full schedule and events here: https://www.worldaquatics.com/competitions/4725/world-aquatics-championships-singapore-2025

Watch live on Eurovision Sport here: https://eurovisionsport.com/en

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics

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