Anastasiya Bakhtyreva and Violetta Evenko, former Russian national team members, have switched sports nationality and will represent Uzbekistan moving forward. The two are set to make their debut at the upcoming Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026, with the duet events scheduled on September 26 and 27.
Uzbekistan Aquatics officially announced the move on Sunday, confirming that both athletes are now training with the national artistic swimming team.
“Uzbekistan Aquatics supported Anastasia and Violetta’s desire to continue competing and established the necessary conditions for their training within the country,” the federation said. “For its part, World Aquatics showed understanding regarding the athletes’ situation, supported their wish to continue their sporting careers, and approved the change of their sporting nationality in accordance with established procedures.”
Bakhtyreva, 23, was part of the Russian senior national team from 2022 to 2025. She last competed at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, where she won silver in both the technical and acrobatic team events. In 2021, she also became a three-time European Junior Champion.
Evenko, 21, enjoyed a successful career through the youth and junior ranks, winning three gold medals at the 2019 World Youth Championships. Like Bakhtyreva, she competed at the 2021 European Junior Championships and won three gold medals there, including in the duet with Elizaveta Minaeva, who is now part of Russia’s senior duet.
Bakhtyreva and Evenko continued to appear in the Russian senior team during the period when the country was excluded from international competition, competing at events such as the 2022 Solidarity Games, 2023 Federation Cup and 2024 Russian National Championships.
For Evenko, the move follows a two-year break from competitive sport. In a vlog documenting her move to Uzbekistan, she explained that she had been living a “pretty normal student life” and working at a fitness club, but eventually realized she still had unfinished business in artistic swimming.
“I had a lot of time to think about what I really wanted. I thought I had unfinished goals in sports, and I wanted to continue competing internationally,” Evenko said.
The possibility arose when Bakhtyreva called her about the prospect of representing Uzbekistan.
“One phone call from Nastia literally changed my life,” Evenko continued. “She told me, ‘Violetta, maybe we can go to Uzbekistan and compete for this country.’ I didn’t need much time to think about it. I said yes, we will try to do it, and now I am here. I am very grateful to Uzbekistan for giving me the opportunity to continue my sports journey.”
Bakhtyreva told Match TV that, for her, it all initially came about after her mother moved to Uzbekistan for work and invited her to join her.
“I, of course, agreed, and we thought about continuing my athletic career. After that, I called Violetta and asked her, and she agreed, as we are very close friends. So we flew to Uzbekistan together. We’re currently training and preparing for the Asian Games.”
Although the two have been teammates for many years, they have never previously competed together as a duet. They will now do so under the Uzbek flag, with Yulia Miteva as their coach. Miteva worked with both athletes during their junior careers in Russia, and has 19 years of experience coaching at the highest level.
The duet’s reserve athlete will be 17-year-old Sabina Makhmudova, who competed at the World Junior Championships and in the Paris and Xi’an World Cups this past season.
Uzbekistan Aquatics said the project is intended to also to give fellow Uzbek artistic swimmers the opportunity to train alongside experienced international competitors and gain experience in areas including technical difficulty, synchronization, artistry and competition preparation.
“This creates an opportunity to foster a highly competitive domestic environment, develop homegrown athletes, adopt international best practices, and gradually build a program capable of competing with the world’s leading teams,” the federation stated.
The move also gives the country a potential path towards qualifying for the LA28 Olympic Games. Uzbekistan has never been represented in artistic swimming at the Olympics.
ARTICLE BY CHRISTINA MARMET
Cover photo: Uzbekistan Aquatics
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