Olympic silver medallist Izzy Thorpe and European champion team-mate Ranjuo Tomblin secured their third Mixed Duet title of the season following a dazzling display in the Technical final on the second day of competition at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup in Xi’an.
The British duo were paired together last season after Thorpe’s Olympic medal-winning compatriot Kate Shortman took an extended break from the sport, following Paris 2024.
Since then, they have attained their nation’s first-ever major Mixed Duet honours, with World Championships bronze among their haul in 2025.
Thorpe and Tomblin executed a delightfully entertaining and energetic display while performing to their ‘light and darkness’ inspired routine, which showcased chorography in-part created by legendary USA artistic swimmer Bill May.
They were awarded an overall score of 227.1317 points, showing a significant improvement from their season-opening World Cup victory in Medellin, Colombia, where they scored 202.9517pts.
“I think it's good that we got the gold medal,” Tomblin told World Aquatics. “We are always looking to improve the score, improve our artistic impression and all of that.”
Thorpe added;
"We're excited to see the video from our performance and see what we can improve on"
“We also want to hear the judges’ feedback and see what we can do to step up the routine to the next competition.”
Tomblin concluded by staying; “For every competition, we aim to step up and step it up for the European Championships at the end of the season.”
Joining the British pair on the podium were two duets from Kazakhstan, with teenagers Yasmina Islamova and Aldiyar Ramazanov edging the ‘national battle’ against their compatriots to place second (211.2559pts).
“I’m very happy with this medal,” said Islamova. “Next time we are going to get gold; we are going to train very hard for it!”
Artur Maidanov and Aiganym Saim (211.1392) claimed their first medal together, with bronze.
“It was a very hard performance and we have only been training together for three months, but I think soon we will be able to give a better performance and get better results,” Maidanov told World Aquatics.
Tomblin would also place on the podium for the second time in as many days in an individual event, following the conclusion of the Men’s Solo Free Final.
Unlike the Tech discipline on Friday though, which saw him top the standings, this time the 20-year-old Briton would have to settle for silver, as China’s exciting talent Guo Muye returned the summit of his sport.
On Friday, in addition to claiming individual silver, he also became the first male athlete to represent China in an Open Team contest at a major senior competition and helped his nation secure victory.
“Having completed two events, especially the team technical event, I felt much more at ease today,” Guo told World Aquatics, after attaining a winning score of 263.2338pts.
"Being more relaxed allowed me to perform my routine with greater openness and confidence and I executed my routine to my full ability, so I’m pleased with my performance"
Tomblin, who scored 249.8225pts, admitted that at present the Solo Free is something of a “weak point” in his line-up of events, but stated he was “happy to be able to swim clean” and aims to “keep progressing” throughout the season.
For the second day in a row Viktor Druzin of Kazakhstan (239.1226pts) placed third, while 14-year-old Lei Zichen gave a glimpse of his talent, by placing fourth.
Eighteen duos took to the water for what was a highly entertaining Women’s Duet Free contest.
While Friday’s Duet Technical champions – Lin Yanjun and Xu Huiyan – did not contest the event, the line-up still featured a host of major medal winners, together with rising stars of the sport.
Japan’s Moe Higa and Tomoka Sato would certainly be classed among the established names, with the pair having attained a combined 18 medals at World Championships over recent years.
They were again impressive, backing up their third-place finish in Friday’s Technical discipline with a further bronze medal 24 hours later, with their ‘symbiosis’ themed routine attaining an overall score of 283.1905 points.
It was an impressive penalty-free total, but not enough to overhaul 16-year-old Kristina Chekhanova and 19-year-old Russian team-mate Anastasiia Sidorina who placed second (285.8040pts).
It was their maiden World Cup honour as a duet and the first of Chekhanova’s career.
“This is my debut at an international event and I’m very happy with the silver medal,” Chekhanova told World Aquatics.
“I made some mistakes yesterday, but I’m very happy today, even more so as my mother is in the stands and it’s such a pleasure for me to perform in front of my family.”
It would be double podium celebration for Russia, with Kira Cherezova and Valentina Gerasimova, the Duet Technical silver medallists, securing gold.
Their exceptional showing, while performing their ‘Shamans’ themed routine to the track ‘Voile’ by Bjarla, was awarded an overall score of 304.6439pts by the judges.
“We’ve only trained together for two years, and this is our first medal together as a duet,” Cherezova told World Aquatics. “When you have the first medal, a gold medal, it is an indescribable feeling and perhaps it will start to sink in later this evening.”
The second day of competition in the Chinese city of Xi’an would conclude with an enthralling Team Free contest with eight teams, from seven nations putting on a show worthy of such an engaged and excited audience.
Hosts China had topped the standings following the conclusion of an entertaining Tech Technical final on Friday, with just 7.2776 points separating them from Russia.
Their second showdown would see those results flipped with the visiting nation’s dazzling delivery of their ‘Backstage romance’ from the Broadway performance of Moulin Rouge attaining an overall score of 260.0196.
"It was a very hard composition for our routine, because we have a lot of hybrids,” revealed Doroshko. "We also have a lot of time underwater, so it is a difficult routine.
"We are focusing on the European Championships in Paris. We want to represent our programs very well, and we hope that we will do it, and I hope that we can win.”
Hosts China finished 16.0621pts behind, with a total of 243.9575, while Italy (235.7576) claimed a morale-boosting podium finish after placing fourth in the Tech final on Friday.
“We are so happy,” Macchi told World Aquatics. "It's a great achievement for us, because since Paris (World Cup in March), we had to change a lot of things, with this team, with this routine and now we’ve improved a lot.
"We didn’t expect a medal today, so we are very happy about that.”