Germany’s Klara Bleyer and Amelie Marianne Blumenthal Haz claimed their first gold medal together with an impressive victory in Duet Technical Final on day two of the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup in Medellin, Colombia.
The pair, who partnered for the first-time last season, topped the standings with an impressive score of 275.2792.
Blumenthal Haz admitted she felt a little “overwhelmed” by the success, while her team-mate insisted they can “do better” by taking things “step-by-step” at upcoming events.
Bleyer would also claim a silver in the Women’s Solo Free event, won by Paris 2024 Olympian Audrey Lamothe (CAN), who won her second title in as many days.
Eduard Kim (KAZ) returned to form, after placing seventh in the Men’s Solo Tech Final, by winning the Men’s Solo Free discipline.
The final event of the day, the Team Free, saw Kazakhstan triumph, with hosts Colombia second and Brazil completing the podium places.
Host-nation athlete Mabel Tobon (COL) told World Aquatics that their silver medal was a “huge achievement” and that standing on the podium together as a team filled them with “great pride and joy.”
Women’s Duet Technical Final
22 pairs lined-up for the first contest of the second day at Medellin 2026, with 15 nations represented among the 44 athletes.
Kazakhstan Makpal Kalmurza and Dayana Jamanchalova were the first to take to the water.
The field delivered a host of spectacular performances for the passionate fans who remained committed to watching the action unfold, despite earlier challenges with the rain.
Elizaverta Minaeva and Mayya Doroshko - double World Championship medallists at Singapore 2025 - were arguably the pre-event favourites, but ultimately finished a surprise 18th.
USA Olympic medal-winner Anita Alvarez and multiple World Championship medallist Jaime Czarkowski were another duet backed to perform well; however, they would place 11th in an event which saw their more junior rivals give a glimpse of their undoubted talent.
Kanako Field and Ghizal Akbar, who are 15 and 17-year-old respectively, delivered a clean routine, with their ‘Dream On’ themed performance attaining a score of 249.8017. They would place sixth, but were less than seven points short of a podium place.
Bleyer and Blumenthal Haz would top that, after their ‘Stone Age’ themed routine to the track ‘Drum Warfare’ attained a combined overall score of 275.2792.
Claiming a stunning second-place were Slovakian teenage duet Lea Anna Krajcovicova and Zofia Strapekova, with French duo Laelys Alavez and Romane Lunel completing the top-three.
“We're very excited,’ Strapekova told World Aquatics. “This is our first silver medal as a duet, and we are swimming together for a longer time and we’re very, very happy!”
Alavez stated that third-place was a “good” result for the French duet, who only began working on their new choreography late last year.
“We had to work hard to make this happen and it was not easy here as the altitude is high and there was even a storm, but we managed things well and are very happy,” said Alavez.
Women’s Solo Free Final
For the second day in a row Canadian Audrey Lamonthe was the standout performer in a women’s solo contest, this time adding the Solo Free crown to the Solo Tech title secured on the opening day of competition.
The Olympian dazzled while performing her ‘Tourner dans le vide’ (Spinning in the void’) themed routine, with judges awarding her a score of 247.0625, which was enough to claim victory by 10.3600 points from Bleyer.
“It's feeling amazing because I put a lot of work into, not just the past season, but the past years and I feel this weekend, it’s very rewarding for me,” Lamonthe tells World Aquatics.
“It gives me lots of encouragement for the next season and motivates to me think about giving my best at every training (session) and to be the best I can as an athlete.”
Vasilina Khandoshka, who won silver and bronze medals in solo disciplines at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, placed third, with 201.8538 points.
“This medal means a lot to me because it is only the beginning of this season and we have learned many things we didn't know before, because the rules in artistic swimming continue to change,” Khandoshka told World Aquatics.
“Today we are starting to think differently and look for new paths and new ideas, so I hope we can continue to surprise you.”
Men’s Solo Free Final
Six athletes lined up for the second men’s solo contest of the Medellin World Cup and although South America provided the majority of the competitors it was an athlete from Asia who would top the standings.
The event saw a reversal in fortunes for team-mates Eduard Kim and Viktor Druzin, with the latter having attained a podium finish, with bronze on the opening day of competition, while Kim had struggled in that Solo Tech discipline.
24 hours on it was the more senior male athlete – two-time World Championship medal-winning Kim, who would be claiming a medal, with 20-year-old delivering a Solo Free masterclass.
His ‘a journey without a goal’ themed routine attained a gold-medal-winning score of 196.2476.
“It's a big medal for me, because the new season started, badly, I think, yesterday,” Kim admitted to World Aquatics.
“Now I bring more power and more artistic impression, but not difficultly as I don’t like difficult hybrids. I like more beautiful, powerful men's choreography.”
There would be plenty to celebrate for South American nations though, with teenagers Alan Domingues Rodrigues (BRA) and Nicolas Tascon (COL) also claiming honours.
“It's an immense pleasure,” said runner-up Domingues Rodrigues. “It’s my first World Cup, I’m 15-years-old, I'm going to take a silver medal home and it’s crazy!
“My ultimate goal is to be Olympic champion and if I keep going on this path, I'm going to make it, but (next) to reach a World Championships and this time not just be second, be first.”
Tascon added that the bronze medal showed him that “everything is possible.”
“If you set your mind to it, if you dream it, that… if you truly work hard and do it from the heart, anything can happen.”