Ranjuo Tomblin continued his golden run in the artistic swimming competition at the European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026, claiming a fourth gold medal, while Neutral Athlete Vasilina Khandoshka captured her first European title in the women’s solo free. Later in the day, the Neutral Athletes B finally earned their first gold medal of the championships in the team free event.
Neutral Athlete Vasilina Khandoshka captured the women’s solo free title with 292.3887 points, delivering another mesmerizing performance of her “Silent Scream” routine.
The 24-year-old, who had led the preliminary round, returned with another technically outstanding swim to add the European crown to her World Championships bronze medal.
Renowned for constantly pushing the artistic boundaries of the sport, Khandoshka rarely repeats the same creative formula, continually reinventing both her choreography and musical choices.
Her latest routine once again showcased her trademark fluidity and effortless movement through the water, disguising an impressive 62.35 Degree of Difficulty (DD) behind a captivating performance that held the audience’s attention from start to finish.
“I like this competition. It’s my first time winning a gold medal and I’m so happy. My performance was great,” she told European Aquatics.
“I will work more and more and I will find a new partner and maybe we will try to do something great in duet for the future.”
Reigning European champion Klara Bleyer of Germany claimed silver with 289.2463 points after producing a clean performance of her “Space” routine.
After qualifying third in the preliminary round following a basemark on her final hybrid, Bleyer still increased her DD by 1.10 for the final and avoided any major errors to climb onto the second step of the podium.
She was very candid when asked about her routine following the event.
“I just try to really enjoy it and take everything in. It’s the last time that I do this routine, and this routine has given me so much success, so I think I’m ready for something new.”
Spain’s Iris Tio Casas earned bronze with 284.5550. The reigning World Champion performed to “Hymne à l’Amour”, famously interpreted by Céline Dion during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
While stylistically very different from Khandoshka’s and Bleyer’s routines, Tio Casas captivated the audience through her interpretation and emotional expression, earning the highest Artistic Impression score of the final.
After qualifying second, the Spaniard increased her DD by 2.0 points for the final in an attempt to challenge for gold. However, Khandoshka remained well ahead and Bleyer’s clean performance proved enough to edge ahead, leaving Tio Casas with bronze – her third medal of the championships after silver in both the women’s duet free and mixed duet free.
“I’m happy because it was really challenging as I do a lot of choreography. But I feel strong, I feel that I am swimming very well, so I’m happy with my results,” she said.
“There’s a lot of competition to come, so I’m very ready for tomorrow, to give my everything in the solo technical and the team tech, and the other days also.”
On the men’s side, Great Britain’s Ranjuo Tomblin continued his golden run by taking the European title with a score of 258.9188, securing his fourth gold medal of the championships after victories in the men’s solo technical, mixed duet technical and mixed duet free.
Bronze medalist in this event at the previous European Championships, Tomblin arrived in Paris as one of the favourites following a superb World Cup season that included four medals, two of them gold. Swimming first with his routine portraying a journey from struggle to empowerment, he immediately set the bar very high with the highest DD of the final at 62.60, producing a performance none of his rivals could match.
“It’s a big relief (to win four gold medals). I’m really grateful to compete here, notwithstanding the results,” he told European Aquatics.
“For me, going first is nerve-wracking. You don’t know how the scores will be affected but it’s just about staying in the moment and luckily it worked out.
“Four gold medals are beyond my wildest dreams. I’d like to thank my coaches and my choreographer.
“Right now I’ll be having a big break. I’m still waiting for news on the mixed duets in LA but for now it’s time to rest.”
Filippo Pelati of Italy secured silver with 252.8713 points, collecting his fourth medal of the championships after silver in the men’s solo technical and mixed duet technical, as well as bronze in the mixed duet free.
The men’s solo free has become the 19-year-old’s signature event. European silver medalist and World bronze medalist in 2025, Pelati added another European junior silver just a few weeks ago before continuing his consistency on the senior stage in Paris.
Set to Stravinsky’s “Firebird”, his routine combined powerful execution with theatrical interpretation to make full use of the music’s dramatic atmosphere.
“I’m very happy and I’m looking forward to the future,” said Pelati. “I have the World Junior Championships in a few weeks and I will keep going.
“It’s a great experience also competing with the important athletes and very good performers in this pool. So for me, it’s also the pool of the Olympics, so I’m very happy to be here.”
Spain’s Jordi Caceres Iglesias completed the podium with bronze thanks to a score of 229.2599 in his first solo appearance of the season.
The defending European champion arrived in Paris as something of an unknown after battling injuries that had severely disrupted his training throughout the year.
Competing with a lower DD than his main rivals, Caceres relied on a clean, confident performance to the song “Gimme All Your Love” by Alabama Shakes to secure another European medal.
The fourth day of these championships concluded with the team free final, where all eight teams returned to the pool after Sunday’s preliminary round.
Neutral Athletes B claimed their first gold medal of the competition with a score of 285.0346 after making a bold increase of 5.48 points to their DD, raising it to 83.5670 by completely redesigning their final hybrid.
Already the only team to avoid a basemark in the preliminaries, they once again delivered a clean performance of their “Online, Not Alone” routine. The increased risk paid off as they held off Spain by just 2.6805 points.
“It’s amazing. We don’t have words, we’re so happy,” they said following the medal ceremony.
“We are a great team. We work as one together. There is a very good spirit with us and the coaches.”
Spain, the reigning European Champions, rebounded strongly after receiving a basemark on an acrobatic movement in the preliminary round.
With a very strong and heartfelt swim to their “La Locura” routine, the Spaniards closed much of the gap to the winners and recorded the highest Artistic Impression score of the final, finishing with a score of 282.3541 for silver.
Italy completed the podium with a score of 256.1558. European silver medalists a year ago, the Italians also improved significantly on their preliminary performance after overcoming the basemark that had cost them dearly the previous day.
They produced a much cleaner rendition of their “Angels and Demons” routine to secure bronze.
“We are very happy ahead of the rest of the competition. We did what we set out to do so as far as we’re concerned our goals are completed,” they said.
The artistic swimming competition in Paris continues tomorrow at 9:00 with the women’s solo technical final, before the teams return to the pool in the afternoon for the team technical final, scheduled to start at 16:00.
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Christina Marmet for European Aquatics
