The final day of the European Aquatics Junior Artistic Swimming Championships Munich 2026 saw the Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) secure the Championship Trophy after claiming the last three gold medals on offer.

Spain also enjoyed another successful day, reaching the podium in each of the three finals and earning two silvers and a bronze.

Belarus, which won its first medal at the Championships after finishing third in the duet technical final on Friday, added two more bronze medals to its tally, and Italy claimed a second silver.

The duet free final opened the final day in spectacular fashion, with the same three duets that topped the technical event returning to the podium after another captivating contest.

Neutral athletes Kristina Chekhanova and Anastasiia Sidorina completed a duet double, adding the free title to the technical gold they won a day earlier with a breathtaking performance of their “Two Elements of One Mechanism” routine.

Already overwhelming favourites after comfortably leading the preliminary round, Chekhanova and Sidorina delivered once again when it mattered most. The pair earned a staggering 299.4832 points, finishing more than 27 points clear of the field in one of the most dominant displays of the Championships.

Their routine carried a massive degree of difficulty (DD) of 68.25, almost six points higher than any other duet in the field, and combined exceptional precision, technical skill and artistry throughout.

Originally performed last season, when Sidorina claimed the junior European title with a different partner, the choreography has since been refined while further increasing its technical difficulty.

The result was a truly outstanding performance that, as noted after the preliminaries, would be competitive with the world’s leading senior duets despite the competition’s apnea restrictions.

Naia Alvarez Vicente and Daniela Suarez Fernandez of Spain secured their second silver medal together with 272.1909 after an energetic routine set to Beyoncé’s “Diva”.

The Spanish pair had slightly increased their DD by 0.15 compared to the preliminary round and once again produced a confident performance to retain second place comfortably.

“We are very happy, we have trained a lot for this,” Alvarez Vincente told European Aquatics. “We were so tired today, but we didn’t let that affect us,”

After suffering a basemark and a seventh-place ranking in the preliminary round, Belarus’ Anastasiya Dabravolskaya and Aliaksandra Mironchyk produced a very strong and clean swim on their “Puppeteer” routine when it counted.

The pair, who have been swimming together for over six years, claimed bronze with 262.4692, their second of the Championships after finishing third in the duet technical.

Italy’s Sarah Maria Rizea and Flaminia Vernice, bronze medallists in this event last year, faced one of the biggest disappointments of the final. After placing third in the preliminary round, they looked well positioned for another podium finish before a costly basemark on one of their hybrids saw them tumble down the standings to seventh place.

The gold standard was maintained by the AIN in the next event as Zakhar Trofimov, winner of the previous day’s men’s solo technical title, added the men’s solo free title to his collection.

The 2025 European junior bronze medallist in this event improved to gold with a superb performance worth 253.7687, bringing his tally in Munich to four medals after victories in the solo technical and mixed duet technical events and as silver in the mixed duet free.

Trofimov had entered the final with the highest DD at 57.05 and he lived up to expectations with a routine that combined demanding technical content with strong artistic impression.

His routine, using AI-generated music, was inspired by the central message of Sergei Yesenin’s poetry: that life should be lived to the fullest because we only have one chance to experience it. As his winning score appeared on the scoreboard, he celebrated with visible relief before kissing the camera.

Italy’s Filippo Pelati claimed silver with 246.3088 after delivering a commanding routine to Igor Stravinsky’s “Firebird.” Swimming first in the final, the Italian produced a performance of remarkable composure as he set the benchmark for the rest of the field.

The most experienced athlete in the final, Pelati arrived in Munich as the world bronze medallist and European silver medallist in this event, and once again demonstrated the quality that has made him one of Europe’s leading male artistic swimmers.

“I am very happy, also because this routine is the one I won the bronze medal in Singapore with, so I felt I had something to prove,” he told European Aquatics. “I feel comfortable with this routine and I think everyone could see it today.”

The silver medal adds to the bronze medals he collected earlier in the Championships in the solo technical and team acrobatic events.

Pelati’s season is far from over as he now gears up for the upcoming Italian Championships, the European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026 and the World Junior Championships all within the next few weeks.

Sixteen-year-old Eneko Sanchez Aguilar of Spain rounded out the podium with a score of 243.0913, continuing what has been a breakthrough Championship for one of the youngest competitors in the field.

The bronze follows silver medals in the solo technical and mixed duet technical and gold in the mixed duet free.

Performing to the passionate, guitar-driven track “First Love” by India Martinez and Will Smith, Sanchez Aguilar displayed impressive height and expressive movement throughout his swim.

The team free final concluded the competition and the neutral athletes won it with a score of 260.6407 to claim their tenth gold of the Championships.

Performing their powerful “Predators” routine with the highest DD in the field at 75.087, they once again demonstrated the exceptional technicality, execution and precision that has defined their routines throughout the week, having also topped the preliminary round.

Spain, the defending champions, earned silver with 243.8808 after another entertaining performance of their Aladdin-themed routine featuring playful choreography and clever thematic details throughout.

The Spanish team, who had qualified second from the preliminary round, opted to slightly reduce their DD from 75.215 to 74.415 for the final to allow the swimmers to focus on execution and interpretation, and it worked out wonderfully.

This silver wrapped up a fantastic Championship for the Spaniards, who, like the Individual Neutral Athletes, earned medals in all 11 events. They leave Munich with one gold, eight silvers and two bronze.

Belarus finished third with a score of 223.2288 after presenting their captivating “Snake Dance” routine. Having qualified fourth in the preliminary round, they increased their DD by 0.725 in an effort to challenge for the medals, and it paid off.

The Belarusians had a clean swim, delivering when it counted to claim their third bronze of the competition and their first team medal at a European Junior Championships.

Italy, silver medalists at last year’s Championships and third in the preliminaries, unfortunately received a basemark on their second-to-last hybrid, dropping them to fourth place and out of the podium.

So the curtain falls on another memorable edition of the European Aquatics Junior Artistic Swimming Championships, which has delivered five days of exceptional performances in Munich.

For some athletes, attention now quickly turns to senior competition with the European Aquatics Championships starting in Paris on July 31.

Many more will continue their junior season at the World Junior Artistic Swimming Championships in Budapest which will run from August 12 to 16.

Christina Marmet for European Aquatics