The World Cup circuit moves to Xi’an, China, for its third stop of the 2026 season, returning to the same pool that hosted last year’s Super Final. With 21 nations entered, the meet sits at the midway point of the season and will see a few more teams make their first appearance of the year.
The most anticipated debut is, of course, the People’s Republic of China’s “A” team. They are set to compete in technical team and acrobatic team with the same choreographies as last season, while the “B” team, which featured at the Paris World Cup, will appear in the free and acrobatic team events.
The top squad remains very much the group that dominated at the Singapore World Championships, where the nation swept all three team titles. A few new faces appear depending on the event, but overall there is very little movement and the core of the team stays firmly in place.
There are, however, a few subtle shifts. Olympic Champions Chang Hao and Zhang Yayi seem to be focusing solely on the acrobatic routine now, or at least for this competition. Xiang Binxuan, the only other Olympic Champion currently on the squad, is still entered in both technical and acrobatic team, providing some continuity across the events.
The most notable absence is that of Feng Yu, Olympic Champion, 11-time World Champion, two-time Olympian, and a key part of last year’s three gold medal-winning routines.
One detail that stands out from the start lists is the inclusion of Guo Muye in both team routines. It will mark the first time China’s senior “A” team features a male swimmer in a team event, a meaningful step for a program that has long set the standard and continues to show remarkable depth on the men’s side.
Individually, Xu Huiyan returns in the technical solo, where is the reigning World Champion, and she should be one of the highlights there. She is also scheduled to swim technical duet with Lin Yanjun. Lin, together with her twin sister Yanhan, took silver in Singapore, so this variation of the pairing will be one to watch.
If China’s season-debut is one side of the story, the other is Russia. Indeed, the head-to-head between the two nations will naturally draw the most attention.
For Russia, there has been, of course, a new coaching direction under Svetlana Romashina and her staff, and with it a different vision. But the Paris World Cup already suggested that the transition has been a smooth one so far. The Russian team made a very strong statement at that competition, unveiling two brand-new choreographies and claiming gold by a wide margin in both technical and free team.
They showed early on that this new version of the team is already highly competitive, but Xi’an will now offer a more direct look at how that all stacks up against China, their main rivals and the benchmark in recent seasons.
Here, the Russians will once again compete in technical and free team, and will make their season debut in acrobatic team. This is undoubtedly another highly anticipated routine, choreographed once more by Marina Goliadkina, who is also behind the free routine.
Overall, Romashina has been clear about the intent behind each of these team programs, explaining to Match TV after Paris: “The goal was to make both [technical team and free team] radically different. We’re currently preparing a third program, the acrobatic team. And we understand that here, too, we must be completely different, that we must demonstrate that we can be ahead of the rest, both in technique and artistry.”
There is also a continued focus on developing younger swimmers. Valeriia Plekhanova returns in solo after Paris, and is joined by Ekaterina Shtatnova, the reigning junior national champion in free solo, and vice-junior national champion Aleksandra Zavialova.
In mixed duet, the young pair of Vladimir Pershin, 18, and Arina Tumkina, 15, will make its international debut as well. They are notably coached by seven-time world champion Aleksandr Maltsev, who recently announced he is taking a break from competition this year.
The Russian “A” duet is not entered here, but the pairing of Kira Cherezova and Valentina Gerasimova returns after winning two silvers in Paris and should again bring a high level of difficulty. A new junior pairing made of Kristina Chekhanova and Anastasiia Sidorina, the latter reigning European Junior Champion in free duet, will also make its debut.
Japan will also step onto the World Cup stage for the first time this season in Xi’an. Like China, there is a sense of stability in the roster, with only limited changes and a strong returning base. One of the more welcome sights is the return of Olympian Shimada Ayano, who had missed the 2025 national team trials and therefore the international season due to injury.
At the same time, younger athletes are already beginning to move into the senior squad. 16-year-old Ishimi Kikuno and 17-year-old Mitsuhashi Risako both step up after recent junior and youth World Championship appearances, with Mitsuhashi arriving as the reigning World Junior Champion in technical duet.
Olympians Higa Moe and Sato Tomoka are entered in both duet events after placing fourth in technical duet in Singapore, and Higa will also compete in technical solo.
Australia joins the list of season debuts, now under a Spanish coaching team led by Andrea Fuertes and Miriam Llovet since the fall. The team is relatively young and renewed, although still with Natalia Caloiero, Bianca Chira, Cliodhna Ni Cathain, and 2024 Olympian Zoe Poulis returning from last season. Chira and Poulis will debut as a new duet pairing, while the nation fields entries in technical and free team.
Beyond the headline teams, the individual fields remain strong and consistent with the early stages of the World Cup series.
In women’s solo, the current top three in the rankings, Klara Bleyer, Vasilina Khandoshka, Zofia Strapekova (technical solo) and Maria Alavidze (free solo), are all set to compete in Xi’an. On the men’s side, Ranjuo Tomblin and Eduard Kim head the technical and free standings respectively, and will swim here as well. Tomblin also returns in mixed duet alongside Isabelle Thorpe, the current leaders in that event.
The competition starts tomorrow, May 1st, at 10:00 am local. All information you need to follow the competition is available here.
ARTICLE BY CHRISTINA MARMET
Cover photo: World Aquatics
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