The artistic swimming competition at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore officially got underway today with two events on the schedule at the World Aquatics Championships Arena: the women’s technical solo preliminary and the technical duet preliminary.
It was an exciting opening day that brought strong performances, a few new choreographies, only a handful of basemarks, and an early look at the top contenders for the podium.
Women’s Technical Solo Preliminary
First up was the women’s technical solo preliminary, featuring 35 competitors from around the world aiming to place in the top 12 to advance to tomorrow’s final.
With reigning World Champion Evangelia Platanioti of Greece and vice-World Champion Jacqueline Simoneau of Canada sitting this season out, the door was wide open and China’s Xu Huiyan stepped right through it.
The 19-year-old, reigning world bronze medalist and world junior champion, closed the event with a beautiful and effortless performance of her “Lovesickness” routine, scoring 265.8984, more than 10 points ahead of her closest rival.
She also earned the highest element and artistic impression scores of the event, looking composed and in total control in the water. Xu had increased her Degree of Difficulty (DD) by about a point since she took gold at the World Cup Super Final last month and now heads into the final as the clear favorite.
“It was a pretty stable showing,” Xu said. “I was a little nervous before the performance, because the water temperature here is a little lower than I’m used to. I was concerned if it would affect my ability to perform certain moves. Overall, my degree of difficulty has been raised, so I was quite excited about performing it. It’s both motivation and pressure [to come in as a favorite]. I hope that I can do what I’m capable of and do what I’ve trained for.”
In second is Vasilina Khandoshka, competing as Neutral Athlete A, who brought back her routine set to Barbra Streisand “Don’t Rain on My Parade”. She posted the highest DD of the field at 37.40, including a massive 23.20 hybrid. Her score of 254.8200 puts her in strong contention for a medal, and her high-risk, high-reward strategy continues to pay off.
Spain’s Iris Tio, European silver medalist in this event, sits just behind in third with 253.7691, after a powerful swim to “Me Quedo Contigo” by Rosalia. She had also upped her DD by 1.85 points since the Super Final, where she earned silver, and continues to impress with her interpretation, musicality and execution. With such a small margin between her and Khandoshka, the battle for silver and bronze is far from over.
That said, a few other athletes are also very close behind. In fourth and fifth respectively are European Champion Vasiliki Alexandri of Austria and Klara Bleyer of Germany, who is swimming a “Spain”-themed routine and posted the second highest DD of the day at 35.05. The four-way fight between Khandoshka, Tio, Alexandri, and Bleyer for the medals is especially tight, with just 4.5 points separating second and fifth.
Higa Moe of Japan also remains well in the mix, sitting just a point behind Bleyer and within striking distance for a top five finish.
Further down but still notable, Neutral Athlete B Tatiana Gayday made her World Championships debut and her first solo international appearance since 2017, finishing seventh with a swim to the theme of “Take a step into the night.” It will be very interesting, and quite exciting, to see if she decides to stay put or radically up her DD for tomorrow.
We also saw the season debut of Marloes Steenbeek of the Netherlands in this event, who presented a lovely new choreography to Doris Day’s “Dream a Little Dream of Me.” The reigning world junior silver medalist qualified to the final in 10th place.
The 12 athletes qualified to the women’s technical solo final are Xu Huiyan (China), Vasilina Khandoshka (NAA), Iris Tio (Spain), Vasiliki Alexandri (Austria), Klara Bleyer (Germany), Higa Moe (Japan), Tatiana Gayday (NAB), Enrica Piccoli (Italy), Romane Temessek (France), Marloes Steenbeek (Netherlands), Audrey Lamothe (Canada) and Karina Magrupova (Kazakhstan).
The final will take place tomorrow, Saturday July 19 at 6:30 pm local. It is shaping up to be a thrilling event, with plenty of room for movement if anyone decides to make a strategic switch.
Technical Duet Preliminary
The competition continued in the afternoon with the technical duet preliminary, featuring a packed and competitive field of 39 duets. It was a long session, thankfully with a well-timed break midway, but full of high-level routines and tight battles for a coveted spot in the top 12. With none of last year’s medalists from the Doha World Championships competing, the field was wide open.
Austria’s Anna-Maria and Eirini-Marina Alexandri rose to the occasion with a commanding performance to their “Swan Lake” routine, earning 305.1684 and finishing the day in first place. The reigning European Champions looked sharp and precise, showing off the second-highest DD of the event at 36.35, a nice bump from the 35.85 they used at Europeans.
After missing Doha due to injury, the 27-year-old triplet sisters made a strong statement here right off the bat. This will be their only event in Singapore, and they are clearly aiming for gold.
“We’re happy with the performance,” Anna-Maria said. “Still, we have to analyze it, but for now we’re happy. We will fight for the medal. We qualified first, which is very good, and we’ll try to keep it good.”
“There are some things that we can improve on for the final, and we will work on that the next two days,” Eirini-Marina said. “Everything begins from zero again. We want to give our best, to perform the best way we can.”
In second place are China’s Lin Yanhan and Lin Yanjun, 22-year-old twins making their World Championships debut. Swimming to the theme “Warriors of Moon Shadow”, the gold medalists from the Super Final looked genuinely surprised at their placement and score of 301.0933, which included the highest AI mark of the day by a hair (0.05). Following in the footsteps of the Wang twins, reigning Olympic and World Champions, they are quickly establishing themselves as China’s next great duet.
“I was a little nervous, but it was more of excitement to be able to perform on such a big world stage, it was quite emotional,” Yanhan said. “It’s our first routine, so we were a little tight and we made some mistakes. But I hope that we can improve on that. We won’t change much for the final, but will try to find a breakthrough.”
Rounding out the top three were Neutral Athletes B, Mayya Doroshko and Tatiana Gayday, who scored 297.0033 with their “Indian Dance” routine. The pair had previously taken gold at the Soma Bay World Cup, but this marked their first appearance together at a World Championships. While Doroshko competed at the 2019 edition in team events, this was her duet debut on the world stage.
Given their background and expectations as Russian athletes, they might be feeling a bit of pressure with this result. Sitting in third and about 8.1 points from the top spot, they’re certainly still in medal contention, but likely hoping for a stronger showing in the final. It’ll be interesting to see if they adjust anything or change strategy heading into Monday’s final.
A few surprises and fresh routines also made waves today. Italy’s Lucrezia Ruggiero and Enrica Piccoli have moved on from their Cancan routine and are now swimming to Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls).” They ranked seventh in this preliminary round. Meanwhile, Jaime Czarkowski and Ghizal Akbar of the USA also debuted a new choreography to Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra” and secured a place in the final by finishing 11th.
In the end, the duets of Austria, China, Neutral Athletes B, Japan, Spain, France, Italy, Mexico, Canada, Ukraine, USA and Neutral Athletes A have qualified to the final. That will take place on Monday, July 21 at 6:30 pm local.
Finally, if you’re watching from home, you’ll have noticed the fantastic new live element tracking feature—if you’re a figure skating fan, this will feel very familiar. Each element is listed and shown in real time with a color code: green if it’s been successfully executed, orange if it’s under review by the technical controllers, and red if it’s going to basemark. It’s incredibly clear and intuitive, and such a great addition for both die-hard fans and casual viewers tuning in once or twice a year.
The broadcast also now includes a sidebar when athletes walk in, showing the theme of their routine, their coaches, and a little gauge overview of their declared difficulty. It all makes the sport immediately more understandable and accessible. This is visible in the pool too, for the audience, coaches, and athletes alike, and it is a truly excellent and much-needed upgrade that enhances the whole competition experience.
ARTICLE BY CHRISTINA MARMET
Cover photo: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia
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