The 2026 World Cup circuit kicks off this Friday in Medellin, Colombia, for the first of five legs scheduled over the coming months. Sorry to pull you out of your Winter Olympics daze (which I’m guilty of myself), but the international artistic swimming season is indeed already here.
This is the first time a World Cup is held in South America, which already makes this stop a landmark moment for the sport. Beyond the geography, this first World Cup should be fascinating from a technical standpoint. With the new, stronger emphasis on transitions in free routines, Medellin will be our first real look at how seriously countries have taken that directive, and who has genuinely reworked their routine construction versus who’s still easing into it.
The entry list has strong Pan American Games vibes, with 10 Pan American countries among the 20 nations total competing. Notably, Brazil, Ecuador and Panama are entering a World Cup for the first time, which is genuinely exciting to see for the growth of the circuit.
Three full teams that competed at Paris 2024 are present: USA, Canada, and Mexico. For the United States, this marks the first competition under new head coach Megan Abarca, who took the reins in September.
The Americans are expected in the acrobatic team as well as across the technical events in women’s solo, duet and team, where they should debut a new routine. Fans will also see the return of three-time Olympian Anita Alvarez in both solo and duet, paired with fellow Olympic silver medalist Jaime Czarkowski.
Canada is entered in the same events as the U.S, with the addition of the women’s free solo, and should also unveil a new technical team routine. Keep an eye on Audrey Lamothe in solo, as well as newcomers Lily Bernier and Andrea Escobar in technical duet; this pairing has been together for a while now through the age groups and will make its international senior debuts here.
Mexico comes in with a noticeably renewed squad. Six former junior national team members are now on the senior roster, with some of the more experienced athletes stepping back from certain routines. Or, actually, back in previous ones, like two-time Olympian Joana Jimenez who’s entered in the technical duet alongside former youth and junior talent Camila Argumedo.
Even though it’s a fairly young roster, expectations still remain high as the Mexican junior team has been outstanding in recent years, winning the last two Junior Pan American Games and taking silver in acrobatic team at the most recent World Junior Championships. In team, the Mexicans should only appear in the technical event, which is exciting as the nation has not competed in it since the 2024 Paris Games.
In mixed duet, Nayeli Mondragon and Diego Villalobos will make their senior debut together. They are the reigning Junior Pan American Champions, and this is a pairing that should immediately command attention, especially with Villalobos being one of the leading male artistic swimmers currently, a four-time world medalist and three-time World Junior Champion.
The host nation Colombia fields a full team as well, led by veteran and three-time world medalist Gustavo Sanchez. Sanchez is very much the headliner of this competition, and is entered in the men’s solo and mixed duet events.
Expect big crowd energy and a confident showing from the home squad, who will surely bask in the opportunity to compete in front of friends and family. Colombia is entered in all 11 events, alongside Brazil as the only two nations to do so.
It will also be very exciting to see Ecuador’s mixed duet, with Joaquin Espinoza and Ayelen Yepez, make its senior debut in Medellin. They competed at the World Youth Championships last year and notably made finals in male solo and mixed duet.
Several European nations are also in Medellin, mostly focusing on solo and duet events. Still, this should give us a valuable early-season snapshot of where they stand.
All eyes will inevitably be on the new Russian duet, competing as Neutral Athletes B. Veteran Mayya Doroshko is now paired with Elizaveta Minaeva and Aleksandra Shmidt, following Tatiana Gayday’s decision to take a break from the national team this season and return to her club.
Minaeva has been on the senior national team since 2022, after many years on the youth and junior teams. Her résumé speaks for itself: four-time World Junior Champion, 10-time European Junior Champion and national junior duet member across her three seasons in that age group. This new pairing should be very competitive right out of the gate.
On the other hand, 17-year-old Shmidt has virtually no experience on the big stage. She did serve as reserve to the team at the World Championships last year, but will make her competitive international debut here.
France brings Olympians Laelys Alavez and Romane Lunel, who will debut their new technical duet themed around “The Heart.” The pair had an excellent 2025, notably finishing fifth at the World Championships in free duet, the country’s best duet result at that meet since 1998. This will be their first time competing together in technical duet, but the potential is clearly there.
Germany’s Klara Bleyer and Amelie Blumenthal Haz, bronze medalists at last year’s European Championships in the free event, are also ones to watch in duet and should be bringing two new routines there. Bleyer, the reigning European Champion in free solo, will be aiming high in that event as well.
In mixed duet, World bronze medalists Isabelle Thorpe and Ranjuo Tomblin of Great Britain are also not to be missed. Tomblin, the reigning European Champion in technical solo, will be one to watch in that event too, likely challenging for the medals.
Other European standouts in solo include Vasilina Khandoshka (Neutral Athletes A), three-time World medalist, and Georgia’s Maria Alavidze, who won a historic silver at the Markham World Cup stop last year.
Spain is sending junior athletes in solo and duet, all of whom are already current members of the senior national team. While they may not yet be positioned to go head-to-head with the strongest established senior pairs mentioned above, they are very much outsiders capable of causing an upset.
The only Asian delegation comes from Kazakhstan, a staple of the World Cup circuit and a nation that consistently shows up with a large and competitive roster. The country will actually be the only non-Pan American one to compete in the team events.
The competition starts on Friday, February 13th. All information to follow the event is available here.
ARTICLE BY CHRISTINA MARMET
Cover photo: Antoine Saito/World Aquatics
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