We’re a little late — life happens — but it’s still December 1 somewhere, so here we are. The end of the year brings its usual mix of headlines: one of the sport’s biggest names steps away, national teams reshuffle, international collaborations continue, and LA28 details trickle in. Let’s catch up on everything you might have missed.

Retirement

• Three-time Olympic Champion Svetlana Kolesnichenko has announced her retirement. The 32-year-old Russian athlete had taken a break last season to give birth to her first child. She had previously considered returning to the sport after maternity leave. Her last international competition was the Tokyo Olympic Games, where she won two golds, but she had been active domestically up until last year.

“I realized I was close to ending my career already at the [2024] BRICS Games. But then I decided to think about the future, take a break, and focus on my health. I was the only one on our national team who didn’t take a break. Over the past 15 years, I haven’t missed a single season or taken a break. Naturally, we discussed the whole situation with Tatyana Nikolaevna [Pokrovskaya] and Tatyana Evgenyevna [Danchenko]. I’m very grateful that they were accommodating and gave me the green light to take a break so I could think things through. Ultimately, I decided I needed to move on.”

National Team News

• Tatiana Gayday, who competed in solo and duet alongside Mayya Doroshko at the Singapore World Championships, is taking a break from training with the Russian national team, her coach Tatiana Danchenko announced. Gayday is training with the Yunost Moskvy synchronized swimming school. In the meantime, Doroshko’s duet partners now includes Elizaveta Minaeva (technical routine) and Aleksandra Shmidt (free routine).

• Continuing with duets, the German Swimming Federation (DSV) has selected three athletes to prepare ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games: Amélie Blumenthal Haz , Klara Bleyer (both Freie Schwimmer Bochum) and Maria Denisov (SG Stadtwerke München). The original plan was to make a decision regarding the potential Olympic duet only in 2026, but the national coach has decided to set a clear course early on: “The aim of this decision is to enable targeted support and ensure the best possible long-term development and support for the potential Olympic duo,” said Stephanie Marx. “The road to qualification is long and demanding. To best meet all challenges, it is crucial for the DSV to build a strong trio of athletes and bring them up to an internationally competitive level.” Blumenthal Haz and Bleyer already claimed bronze in free duet at the European Championships in 2025.

• The Greek Swimming Federation (KOE) announced the senior national team for the 2026 season: Thaleia Dampali, Olga Imvrioti, Athina Kamarinopoulou, Zoe Karangelou, Ismini Maria Karavasili, Stylianos Koukouselis Fouskis, Sofia Evangelia Malkogeorgou, Vasiliki Thanou, Danae Tsaprali, and Georgia Myrto Zangana. The newcomers in this year’s squad are 16-year-old Ismini Maria Karavasili, who claimed bronze in technical solo at the 2025 European Junior Championships, and 17-year-old Olga Imvrioti. Evangelia Platanioti is still missing from the list, but she also hasn’t said anything about retirement either, so.

 

International Collabs

• Great Britain‘s mixed duet, Izzy Thorpe and Ranjuo Tomblin, headed to California for a training camp in Santa Clara alongside Bill May.
• Germany’s Klara Bleyer was back in Barcelona to work alongside Ona Carbonell once again on a new technical solo routine. Bleyer, Blumenthal Haz and Denisov also worked with choreographer Olga Pylypchuk on their new technical duet.
• Andrea Fuentes, head coach of Spain’s national team, traveled to Finland to give a masterclass to coaches and athletes on everything artistic swimming: diverse warmups, extension techniques, artistic impression exercises, acrobatics, improvisation and much more.

Awards & Recognition

• Ranjuo Tomblin was named Artistic Swimming Athlete of the Year at The Aquatics GB Awards 2025. Tomblin has won an outstanding 16 international medals last season across the senior and junior categories, including Great Britain’s first World Championships medal in the mixed duet and a second European solo gold.

2028 Olympic Schedule

• LA28 unveiled the full Olympic competition schedule, and the artistic swimming events will be held from July 25 to 29. The competition will start this time with the duet events on July 25 and 26, immediately followed by the team events from the 27th through the 29th. There will be no one-day break in between the two events for the first time since the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

Job posting

• The Austrian Swimming Federation is again looking for an artistic swimming coach to work with its elite athletes, notably Anna-Maria, Eirini-Marina and Vasiliki Alexandri. Please find the job posting here.

ARTICLE BY CHRISTINA MARMET

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