Surprise! Who doesn’t love an unplanned Sync Up? Sure, it’s not the first nor the 15th of the month, but I do what I want, at least with this. There’s been some news (and many questions) in the last few months that I haven’t been able to get to because of the competition schedule, so here we are.
Russia at the World Championships?
The number one question in recent weeks: Will Russia be at the World Championships in July?
Well, at this time, sort of.
The list of approved neutral athletes by World Aquatics is constantly being updated, the latest one being from June 6th. As we already know, Tatiana Gayday and Mayya Doroshko have been approved since March. Both have competed in the Soma Bay World Cup in solo and duet already, coached by Tatiana Danchenko and Elena Voronova.
Then, in a late-May update, Aleksandr Maltsev and Olesya Platonova were also added to the list, meaning the country should compete in the men’s solo and mixed duet in Singapore.
The senior national team coaching staff is now all here as well: Gana Maksimova, Elena Gryzunova, Ekaterina Piskareva, acro coach Roman Izmailov, and yes, even Tatiana Pokrovskaya, who was nonetheless added a few weeks later than her colleagues.
Now, as for the athletes who make up the team routines, only Elizaveta Minaeva is on the list as of today.
So, right now, Russia is all set for both solos, duet and mixed duet, but it doesn’t have a full, approved senior team for the World Championships. Yet. I will be sure to keep you updated.
Russia at the European Junior Championships?
Speaking of. As we saw in Funchal, European Aquatics (EA) hasn’t allowed Russian or Belarusian athletes back at the senior level. However, junior athletes from these countries may now compete as “neutral athletes” in all disciplines except water polo, following an EA Bureau vote on April 24.
Athletes can only participate in individual events and are barred from relays in swimming and open water, as well as team events in artistic swimming and diving. This ruling is a bit more lenient in its definition of “individual events” compared to what we saw internationally last season, and therefore allows solos and duets for the upcoming European Junior Championships in Athens.
Belarus at the World Youth Championships?
Back to the World Aquatics neutral athletes list. In the late-May update, it appears the youth team of Belarus was also approved, with athletes with neutral status for non-high-risk World Aquatics competitions. It can be safe to assume the nation plans to compete at the World Youth Championships this summer.
The athletes listed, all born between 2010 and 2012, are: Vera Chertova, Maryia Damashneva, Yulia Halaukova, Anastasiya Hil, Valeriya Holubeva, Valeriya Kaliachonak, Vasilina Khodas, Alisa Khropik, Lizaveta Lemesh, Maryia Sednina, Yaraslava Shyshkova, and Vitalina Trofimova.
Apnea limits are back
European Aquatics has reinstated an apnea time limit regulation for all free hybrids, to be implemented during the European Aquatics junior artistic swimming events from May on. A basemark will be applied when a free hybrid exceeds an apnea time of 25 seconds. If you have some ethics as a coach, you already should be below that anyways.
Full details here.
2026 World Cup in Colombia
World Aquatics selected Colombia as host for the first stop of the 2026 Artistic Swimming World Cup circuit, as announced by the Federacion Colombiana de Natacion (FECNA).
The competition will be held in February 2026 in the city of Medellín, which recently organized the Pan American Aquatics Championships. This will be the first World Cup stop organized in Latin and South America.
ARTICLE BY CHRISTINA MARMET
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