2025 in review: women’s artistic swimming
Lilou Lluis Valette and Iris Tio Casas contributed gold in the women’s duet free routine to Spain’s total of nine medals at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. Credit: Hiroyuki Nakamura/World Aquatics
Spain’s total of nine medals at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore – more than any other nation – was significantly aided by the efforts of Iris Tio Casas.
The 22-year-old artistic swimmer from Barcelona won three golds and three bronzes during the competition in July, where her country finished third in the medals table.
Austria also earned gold thanks to the efforts of triplet sisters Anna-Maria and Eirini-Marini Alexandri in the duet technical routine.
Tio Casas had collected bronze medals from the women’s solo technical and the team free events before claiming her first individual world gold in the solo free.
She reached the top step of the podium with a score of 245.1913 to beat China’s 19-year-old Huiyan Xu, who had earned her first world title in the solo technical routine, with neutral athlete Vasilina Khandoshka – who also took silver in the solo technical -taking bronze.
A few hours later she helped Spain earn another bronze in the team technical final.
After picking up a second gold in the women’s duet free partnering 18-year-old Lilou Lluis Valette – with silver going to Italy’s Lucrezia Ruggiero and Enrica Piccoli and bronze to neutral athletes Mayya Doroshko and Tatiana Gayday – Tio Casas won her third title partnering Dennis Gonzalez in the mixed duet free on the final day of the artistic swimming programme.
Neutral athletes Aleksandr Maltsev and Olesia Platonova took silver ahead of Great Britain’s Ranjuo Tomblin and Isabelle Thorpe.
Maltsev partnered Mayya Gurbanberdieva to take gold in the mixed duet technical routine, where Gonzalez, partnering Mireia Hernandez, earned silver and Italy’s Filippo Pelati and Ruggiero secured bronze.
Spain earned bronze in all three team competitions, with neutral athletes B team taking two silvers.
The 27-year-old Alexandri sisters, who re-booted their training programme after the disappointment of missing a Paris 2024 duet medal by one place, returned to the top step of a global podium after their duet free routine victory at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, totalling 307.1451 in the duet technical routine.
China’s 22-year-old twins Yanhan and Yanjan Lin took silver on 301.4057, with bronze going to Doroshko and Gayday on 300.2183.
The Alexandri sisters had also earned duet technical gold at the European Aquatics Artistic Swimming Championships held in Funchal, Madeira from June 2 to 5, with the third Alexandri sister, Vasiliki, taking gold in the solo technical routine.
Solo free gold went to Germany’s Klara Bleyer, who also took solo technical bronze. Silver went to Italy’s Piccoli, who also took duet free gold with Ruggiero, thus earning their country’s first European duet title.
Tio Casas took solo technical silver and solo free bronze and also took duet free silver with Lluis.
Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics
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