Olympic champions China delivered a near-perfect preparation for the World Aquatics Championships by rounding off the World Cup Super Final, with a clean-sweep of the team titles following an impressive Acrobatic final victory in home waters.
After successes in the Technical and Free disciplines across the opening two days of the contest in Xi-an, China, the host nation delivered another masterclass performance in what was their last competitive outing before Singapore 2025, which begins next month.
Earlier, on the last day of the Super Final, Dennis Gonzalez won his second Mixed Duet crown of the competition, following up the Technical victory alongside Mireia Hernandez on Saturday by combining with Iris Tio Casas for a phenomenal Free title.
Vasilina Khandoshka won a highly-contested Women Solo Free final, ahead of Klara Bleyer of Germany and China’s Xu Huiyan.
Team Acrobatic – China Continues Team Title Domination
World championship medal-winning nation Japan, who finished second in the Team Free final on Saturday, achieved impressive amplitude with their lifts and showed strong artistic impression throughout their routine, but a score of 199.1476 would not be enough for a further podium finish.
Moving ahead of them after what was described as a “fabulous” swim by commentator Andrea Holland, were the excitable Mexican line-up.
Their energetic display, to the theme ‘Matlalcueye’ – which is another name for the Aztec goddess Chalchiuhtlicue, who is associated with water, rivers, lakes and fertility – achieved a combined score of 209.2038.
That was enough to guarantee them a welcome, Super Final medal.
Next to take to the water in the final event of the contest were Spain with their new routine to Lady Gaga’s ‘Abracadabra’ track.
They premiered the performance at the European Championships earlier in the month, where they took bronze after recording a base mark, but were much improved in Xi’an.
Their captivating performance attained a score of 219.2574 to take them top of the standings, at least temporarily, with the hosts up next, to close out the session.
While Spain brought passion, their rivals had precision, but also creativity combined with clinical delivery and a world class performance simply outclassed the rest of the field.
Their performance, in tribute to the ‘Qin Terracotta Warriors’ captivated home fans in what was the routine’s debut outing. 233.0430 points for the sensational delivery secured the Chinese line-up, which included four of their Paris 2024 gold medal-winners, a further title and a clean-sweep of the team honours at the 2025 Super Final.
“The routine includes some entirely new choreography we never attempted even during Olympic preparations,” Chang Hao revealed to World Aquatics.
“Naturally, this brings psychological tension and pressure; any misstep could trigger unexpected consequences that might compromise our overall score.
“The other teams are all very strong, and the difficulty gap between us isn't significant. That's why we must adopt a steady, step-by-step approach.”
Dennis Gonzalez, who has made history this season by becoming the first man to feature in Spain’s team line-up, believes male athletes can bring different benefits to eight-strong line-ups.
“I think I will want to stay inside the team and I will work for that and this year is the year I work for that,” Gonzalez told World Aquatics.
“I think I’m inside the eight people who can stay inside the team event and I’m so happy for that. I think our choreography with one man is much better because you can do different things than the other routines.”
Bronze medallist Itzamary Gonzalez stated the Mexican team were “excited” to reach the World Cup Super Final podium.
“It’s our first time for almost all of us here in China and we are very happy to win a medal,” said Gonzalez. “We went to the Paris Olympics with this routine already and hope we can do our best in the World Championships.”
Mixed Duet Free – Tio Casas and Gonzalez Reign For Spain
Earlier in the day women and men combined to create a fascinating Mixed Duet Free final, which saw athletes create a host of fascinating performances to the joy of the watching audience.
European champions Dennis Gonzalez and Iris Tio Casas are competing together for the first time this season and have quickly established themselves as arguably the strongest Free combination on the planet.
They will look to cement that status at the World Championships in Singapore next month, but added further evidence of their growing partnership and status with a performance which was full of flair and high emotion.
Their ‘heartbreak’ themed routine attained 290.2184 points and ensured they followed up victories in the last two World Cup events with a further success, this time in the Super Final.
“This year is my first-year swimming with Iris, I love swimming with her and we improved together a lot this year with the artistic impression, and the execution,” Gonzalez told World Aquatics. “I think we have a lot of feeling that makes us better.”
“We are very happy because we are improving in every competition a little bit more. We have good chemistry and we work really good together.”
Securing silver and his fourth medal from four events was Guo Muye, who this time teamed up with former World junior medallist Liu Jinhan.
They attained an overall score of 275.0896, with Guo saying he “would rate myself highly” after the performance, with Liu adding that they needed to improve their “expressiveness and emotional impact” going forwards.
Rounding off the podium places were Great Britain, as their new pairing of Olympic silver medallist Izzy Thorpe and European solo champion Ranjuo Tomblin combined to claim their second Super Final honour, following bronze in the Technical final on Saturday.
“I'm very happy with my performance,” said Tomblin, after he and Thorpe were awarded a combined score of 262.6855 for their routine which focused on the conflict between light and dark.
“Obviously, there were a few mistakes in some routines, so it's all about working hard to improve the routines and the impression and hopefully next time in Singapore, the medal colour will be different.”
Women’s Solo Free – Khandoshka Continues Impressive Form
Iris Tio Casas, who finished second in the Tech discipline, was the first of the major names to take to the water on the final day of competition and she posted a competitive score of 221.6776.
However, those taking to the water later in the session began posing points in excess of her total, with European champion Klara Bleyer the first to pass the Spaniard’s score.
Bleyer of Germany, who was fourth in the Tech discipline on Friday, delivered an excellent execution of her ‘Space’ themed routine, which attained a total of 227.5688 – a significant improvement on her previous personal best.
China’s Xu Huiyan, who won the Solo Tech final on Friday, a day where she also claimed gold medals as part of China’s Women’s Duet Tech and Team Tech line-ups, followed.
Her ‘eternal night sky’ themed routine included a host of solid hybrids and scored 226.5251, which secured her a further Super Final medal.
The final athlete to plunge into the pool was Vasilina Khandoshka, who had attained five World Cup podium finishes during the regular season, but was yet to claim a gold.
That would change when it arguably mattered most, with the 23-year-old attaining a title-winning total of 229.8476 for her ‘The mummy’ themed routine, which highlighted her love of Egyptian history and culture.
“I am happy with the results and I’m looking forward for the World Championships where I really want to do my best,"
Third-placed Chinese artistic swimmer Xu, who claimed her sixth medal, from six events, admitted she was “not very satisfied” with her performance and needed to “manage” her stamina better in the future and “build up more endurance.”
World Cup Overall Ranking Winners Revealed
Following the conclusion of the final day of the Super Final and the 2025 World Cup season, the overall rankings in each of the disciplines were confirmed, ensuring athletes in the respective events could be awarded with hard-earned prize money.
Collecting the $30,000 prize for topping the team standings was Spain with 2353.6805 points, ahead of Japan (2062.7472) and Kazakhstan (1623.0837).
Klara Bleyer of Germany topped the Women’s Solo standings with 1360.4353 points, ahead of Vasilina Khandoshka and Georgia’s Mari Alavidze.
The near peerless performer Muye Guo of China attained a commanding victory in the Men’s Solo leader board with 1238.5778 points, ahead of Spaniard Jordi Caceres Iglesias (1121.6038) and Gustavo Sanchez of Colombia (1120.4652).