European champion Klara Bleyer returned to the top of the podium for the first time in an individual event this season following a fabulous performance in the Women’s Solo Free contest on the final day of the Artistic Swimming World Cup in Paris.
The 21-year-old German, who told World Aquatics ahead of the competition that she hoped her new ‘focus on fun’ approach to the sport would result in improved performances, delivered exactly what she was looking for.
Bleyer placed second in the Solo Tech discipline on Friday, with multiple World Championships medallist Vasilina Khandoshka topping the standings, but the results were reversed in their second individual contest.
She achieved a combined total of 276.8925 points for her ‘Space’ themed routine, with Khandoshka second (268.5427 pts). 16-year-old rising star Valeriia Plekhanova completed the podium places (264.5938), placing third, as she did in the Solo Tech event.
Team Acrobatic – Ukraine, Italy and Israel claim Podium Places
Supporters packed into the iconic Piscine Georges Vallerey area for the evening session were treated to a highly entertaining show, with seven nations lining up for the Team Acrobatic final.
Ukraine claimed Olympic Team bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, in 2021, but five years on the line-up is completely changed and full of largely emerging talents who are attempted to rebuild a new era, after missing out on Paris 2024.
Daria Moshynska, a two-time World championship gold medallist from Budapest 2022, is the most experienced swimmer in the team and together with her team-mates they delivered a display which was more than worthy of victory.
They attained a combined score of 212.4735 for their ‘Ruler of the Spirits’ inspired performance.
The last team who could deny them were Italy, who certainly impressed and while one base mark would ultimately cost them a chance of gold, they were still delighted with their score of 200.6714, which saw them secure a place on the podium.
Completing the top-three was Israel, who attained an overall total of 194.6005, to narrowly edge Paris 2024 Olympic silver medallist USA into fourth.
Mixed Duet Free | Italy, Colombia and Great Britain Lead The Way
Singapore 2025 World Championship Tech event bronze medal-winning duo Lucrezia Ruggiero and Filippo Pelati returned to the podium – and the top step of it – after delivering a mesmerising performance in the penultimate contest of the Paris 2026 World Cup.
They impressively recovered from their base mark-hit performance in the Tech discipline on Friday, where they placed a surprise eighth, to secure gold.
Judges awarded them a combined total of 256.0033 points, for their entertaining ‘Argentinian Tango’ inspired routine, which would see them edge ahead of popular duo Gustavo Sanchez and Emily Minate.
The Colombians were third in the Tech event, but matched the Solo Free placement from their home World Cup in Medellin last month, with second (251.2969).
Completing a high-class top-three were Great Britain’s Izzy Thorpe and Ranjuo Tomblin, who claimed bronze in the event at Singapore 2025. They scored 249.1125, which was actually a strong improvement on the total they achieved at the last World Cup (241.0792) which they won in South America.
Men’s Solo Free | Guo, Tomblin and Minak dazzle
The first event of the day was the Men’s Solo Free final, featuring a strong line-up of nine athletes headed by the sport’s rising star Guo Muye, from China.
The 17-year-old convincingly won Solo Tech discipline the on Friday and delivered an equally controlled as well as commanding artistic display.
His performance to the ‘The Quest’ themed-routine attained an unrivalled overall score of 259.4950 from the judges to underline his status as one of the standard bearers in the men’s side of the sport.
Also matching his result in the Tech discipline was Britain’s history-making athlete, Ranjuo Tomblin.
The 20-year-old, who is his nation’s first-ever elite male artistic swimmer, attained a score of 235.2038pts for the energetic delivery of ‘a journey from struggle to power’ to the track Sand.’
Completing the top-three and claiming the fourth World Cup medal of his career, was Italian Gabriele Minak, who achieved a total of 230.4400.
Next Stage | Toronto Hosts the Artistic Swimming World Cup
The next stage of the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup will take place in Xi’an, China, from 1-3 May, before the fourth leg in Pontevedra, Spain, from 29-31 May.
The top-ranking athletes will then return for the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final, which will take place from 19-21 June in Toronto, Canada.