The final day of the European Aquatics Youth Artistic Swimming Championships Luxembourg 2026 brought three more sets of medals, as the women’s duet free, men’s solo free and free combination finals rounded off an extraordinary four days of competition at the Centre National Sportif et Culturel “La Coque”, with Russia taking every single medal on offer, as well as the overall team trophy.
The country’s stranglehold on the competition showed no signs of loosening when the day began with the women’s duet free final, as Mariia Pakhomova and Emiliia Osiiuk claimed gold on 302.23.
The pair, who had topped the preliminary earlier in the week with their snake-themed routine set to a medley of tracks by Jeremy Zuckerman and Rayn Taubert, delivered when it mattered most.
Showing prowess that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a junior or perhaps even senior competition, the pairing once again took the top spot.
Spain claimed silver on 271.94 in what was also a similarly impressive story. Abril Caballero Garcia, who was already a silver medallist from Saturday’s solo final, was joined by Julia Villalonga for their vikings-themed routine set to Filip Lackovic’s Drums of the Horde.
The pair had come from different clubs and never trained together before Luxembourg, yet built a partnership strong enough to earn a European Championships podium in just a matter of days.
Their score did just enough to separate them from an impressive chasing pack in what was a strong final.
France’s twins Julia and Magdalena Domin claimed bronze on 262.76 with their cat-themed routine, choreographed by Alexia Vito, earning a medal to add to their status as 2026 French Elite Champions in both the Under 15 and Junior categories.
Greece finished fourth on 255.55, Switzerland fifth and Croatia sixth, while Hungary collected an 8-point penalty that disrupted their final evening in the competition.
The Men’s Solo Free produced one of the closest contests of the entire championships. Russia’s Nikita Bodrov claimed gold on 344.58, edging France’s Dylan Freitas by just 3.67 points in a finish that gripped the arena.
Freitas actually posted the higher free score – 201.99 to Bodrov’s 195.16 – but Bodrov’s figures advantage proved decisive.
The Russian’s routine, titled “The Little Things of Love” and set to Daniel Diges’ Algo Pequeñito, was choreographed by long-time collaborator Aleksandr Maltsev, himself a seven-time world champion, and told the story of a romantic relationship rekindled through small gestures.
Freitas, performing his Bohemian Pulse routine to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, delivered a performance full of theatrical energy and musical contrast that pushed Bodrov all the way and drew warm appreciation from the La Coque crowd.
Bronze went to Greece’s Stylianos Koukouselis on 325.46, bringing the curtain down on his youth career with a medal.
His Elvis Presley-themed routine, which set to the JXL remix of A Little Less Conversation and chosen deliberately to enjoy his final youth competition, saw him bow out with a podium finish.
Italy’s Andrea Garuti finished fourth, Poland’s Kacper Kasprzyk fifth and Spain’s Miguel Martinez Morales sixth.
With the evening session beginning, Russia saved one final statement for the last event of the competition. Their Free Combination team claimed gold on 267.67 with The Shaolin Way, which wasn a sweeping, powerful programme choreographed by Svetlana Ponkratova to a Gothic Storm music medley, built around the theme of self-knowledge and spiritual growth through adversity.
Featuring a male athlete competing in the free combination event for the first time in Russian competitive history, it was a landmark performance to end a landmark week, and the squad, which includes winners of the 2025 World Junior Championships, delivered it with the precision we have come to expect from them this week.
Spain claimed silver on 229.27 with their Beyoncé-themed routine set to Run the World, choreographed by members of the Spanish national team and delivered with the energy and flair the music demands. The routine was put together in just two weeks, but you wouldn’t have been able to guess it due to their solid grasp of its intricacies.
Greece took bronze on 223.85 with their Egypt-themed routine, inspired by the ancient connection between Greece and Egypt through the Mediterranean Sea.
Set to a medley including Cirque du Soleil’s Incantation, Will Smith’s Arabian Nights and Sarah Schachner’s Return of the Medjay, and performed in swimsuits of blue, white and gold representing the waters of the Mediterranean and the Nile, the routine was the first time this particular group had competed together, having trained for just six weeks. Italy finished fourth on 220.12 and France fifth on 215.99.
All in all, Russia’s dominance across the week was reflected in the overall standings. They claimed the overall team trophy and topped the medal table with seven golds, one silver and one bronze, which made nine medals in total across the entire competition.
Spain finished second in the medal table with four silvers, claiming the COMEN Cup team trophy in the process, while France and Greece shared third place on three medals apiece – France with two silvers and a bronze, and Greece with three bronzes. Italy and Poland each claimed a bronze to complete the medal table.
That team combination final brought to a close a Championships that will be remembered long after the athletes have left Luxembourg. The performances throughout the week showed that the future of artistic swimming is bright on the continent.
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Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
