The artistic swimming season and new Olympic cycle is finally about to get underway in Paris with the first World Cup of the 2025 season. About six months after the Olympic Games ended, the French capital will once again welcome some of the top artistic swimmers in the world.
With 22 nations set to compete in the next three days, this first stop will give everyone a glimpse at new routines created following the most recent changes in the rules.
Of note, there will no longer be protests of a basemark in any routine; a significant modification only presented and explained to the coaches and team managers today during the last day of official training. However, they can still protest penalties related to the rules, for example a penalty received for a routine running overtime.
This first competition is still relatively early in the year, as most teams aim to peak this summer for the European Championships and the World Championships. In turn, it appears the technical events were favoured by most for this meet.
Technical routines are indeed overall faster to build than free routines, as they are shorter and must include Technical Required Elements which have, for the most part, been in place for the last four years.
So, all in all, except a tight and exciting competition in the technical events. For example, the USA and Spain, respectively Olympic silver and bronze medalists, will go head-to-head in that event, along with France and Japan, fourth and fifth at the Games. However, all of these teams have seen major changes since, whether in terms of coaches or team rosters.
After a few seasons coaching the junior team, Tammy McGregor has taken over the U.S senior squad in the lead-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Games. McGregor can count on the leadership and experience of returning Olympians this season, such as Daniella Ramirez, Jacklyn Luu and Jamie Czarkowski.
Natalia Vega and Nikki Dzurko, who have been staples on the senior squad over the last few years and competed in multiple World Championships, will also compete in Paris. Three-time Olympian Anita Alvarez will miss this competition as she wraps up her Basic Military Training, but is expected to return later this season.
The Americans are only focusing on the technical and acrobatic team events here, and will unveil a new technical team choreography.
Spain will also make its debut under new head coach Andrea Fuentes, who had been at the helm of the U.S. squad for the last six years. The Spanish team roster itself has remained incredibly stable, with all Olympians returning to the squad for this season. Nonetheless, Fuentes is using this meet to try out different options and pairings.
Indeed, the main change she has brought in her tenure so far is to make sure all senior national team athletes train together and fight for the same opportunities – meaning the group is now as one daily, with the former mixed duet training group joining the rest of the team.
In turn, Mireia Hernandez, multiple-time World and European mixed duet medalist, will get a go at the technical team and technical duet routines, while Sara Saldana will debut in the mixed duet alongside Dennis Gonzalez Boneu.
As further explained by Fuentes in a recent video, Gonzalez Boneu and Lilou Lluis Valette, set to compete in a second technical duet, have been limited by pre-season injuries, and are slowly making their way back to the routines.
Spain is entered in every technical event, and should unveil a few new choreographies, including a new technical team routine set to Backstreet Boys.
The team of Japan will also make its debut under the leadership of new head coach and five-time Olympic medalist Miyakawa Miya. Like Spain, Japan will try out new duet pairings in Paris, with all three returning Olympians and the Olympic having a go at it.
In the technical duet, Olympian and World Champion Higa Moe will swim with Fujii Moka, who won two gold medals when she last competed in duet at the 2022 World Junior Championships. In the free duet, Sato Tomoka will perform with fellow Olympian Kobayashi Uta. At the Paris Games, Higa and Sato had ranked eighth.
According to Miyagawa, Higa and Fujii are a bit more artistic and expressive, while Sato and Kobayashi are stronger in technique and power. “This is the only year we can try them out,” Miyagawa said of the two pairs who are preparing for the Singapore World Championships.
The nation should also unveil a new technical team routine to the theme of Basketball. Having experienced disappointment at last summer’s Paris Olympics, Higa said, “I think this is the year I can show a different Japan. I want to show the world that Japan has changed.”
This new Japanese national team is focusing on building up the body to strengthen the acrobatics and prevent injuries. Even before the team was formed, the national team candidates were given a focus on basic training at camps.
After a fourth-place finish in Paris last August, France has also had its faced a renewal of its roster. In the fall, seven younger athletes joined the senior squad at the INSEP training center, including 16-year-old and reigning World and European Youth Solo Champion Romane Temessek.
France can however still count on the experience and leadership of Olympians Laelys Alavez, Anastasia Bayandina, Ambre Esnault, Laura Gonzalez, Romane Lunel and Eve Planeix this new season, although not all will compete in both team routines at this meet.
The home squad will be represented by both its senior and junior teams at this Paris World Cup. The senior athletes are expected to compete in both women’s solo events — Alavez and Temessek will share these —, the technical duet and technical team events as well as the acrobatic team. The junior national team will also compete in the technical team event, as well as the men’s solos and mixed duet routines.
Czechia, Great Britain, Greece, Israel, Kazakhstan and Singapore have also sent full teams to Paris. It’s important to note this Greek team isn’t however the “official” one named by new head coach Meng Chen in December, but rather a strong mix of a few current senior and junior national team members, like World Junior Champion Zoi Karangelou or Stylianos Koukouselis Fouskis, and top club athletes.
Kazakhstan, a staple across the World Cup circuit over the years, comes into Paris with the second-biggest roster, with seemingly both its senior and junior squads. World Champions Eduard Kim and Nargiza Bolatova headline the senior team, and the country is expected to compete in all 11 events in Paris.
China, the reigning Olympic Champion in duet and team, has opted to only send two solos at this World Cup. Xu Huiyan, World bronze medalist, will compete in the women’s solo, while 16-year-old Guo Muye, six-time World Junior medalist, is entered in the men’s events.
Canada, which has also undergone head coaching changes in the recent months, is also only sending a handful of athletes to Paris. Olympian Audrey Lamothe leads this Canadian roster, and is expected to compete in technical solo and technical duet alongside newcomer Ximena Ortiz Montano. Georgia Hock and Emma McIlwain will also appear in the technical duet event.
A few other names to keep an eye out for are European Champion Ranjuo Tomblin of Great Britain, competing here in solo and mixed duet, World bronze medalist Vasilina Khandoshka in solo, two-time European silver medalist Klara Bleyer of Germany, and World finalists Kyra Hoevertsz of Aruba, and Maria Alavidze of Georgia. Multiple-time World and European medalist Iris Tio of Spain is also expected to return in the solo event, and should truly be one to watch.
All information related to the competition is available at this page. The meet starts tomorrow at 10:00 with the women’s technical solo event.
ARTICLE BY CHRISTINA MARMET
Photo: Kennedy Shriver / USAAS
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