The future stars of European artistic swimming will begin to shine tomorrow at the European Aquatics Junior Artistic Swimming Championships Munich 2026, which will conclude on July 4.
Returning to Germany for the first time since 2006, the Championships will take place at the iconic Olympia Schwimmhalle, part of Munich’s Olympic Park and one of the venues of the 1972 Games.
Over five days of competition, athletes aged 15 to 19 (20 for male swimmers) from 31 member federations will contest 11 medal events.
Spain arrives in Munich as the nation to beat after dominating the Championships and topping the medal table over the past four editions.
Last year in Athens the Spaniards claimed the team trophy with four golds, four silvers and a bronze, winning all three team events.
Among Spain’s leading contenders this year are 16-year-old Eneko Sanchez Aguilar, who has carried impressive form into the season after winning three silver medals at the Pontevedra World Cup just a few weeks ago.
Another of their leading lights is Naia Alvarez Vincente, a reigning European junior champion in duet technical. Alvarez will return to this event alongside Daniela Suarez Fernandez, with both athletes having gained valuable experience as part of Spain’s senior national team this year.
However, the participation of individual neutral athletes across all events, including the team routines, is set to add another layer of intrigue.
Several of these athletes return as defending champions, such as the two-time mixed duet gold medallists Alina Rumiantseva and Zakhar Trofimov, who will be among the favourites once again.
Trofimov will also aim to retain his men’s solo technical title and add another medal in solo free.
Italy will be among the challengers for podium finishes across the board. The Italian delegation is led by 19-year-old Filippo Pelati, who returns to the junior championships after focusing on senior competitions last year.
Pelati is the most decorated and experienced athlete in the field, with multiple medals at world and European level across the youth, junior and senior ranks.
Last year he won men’s solo free bronze at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, where he also partnered Lucrezia Ruggiero to mixed duet technical bronze.
He is also the reigning European silver medalist in both men’s solo events, and earned a World Cup super final bronze last week in the solo free.
Having won three golds at his last appearance at these Championships in 2024 he will be aiming for further high-level success.
Several other rising stars will be hoping to make their mark. Slovakia’s Zofia Strapekova has enjoyed a strong World Cup campaign in the women’s solo technical, notably winning silver earlier this year, while Türkiye’s Selin Hürmeric, the current world youth silver medalist in solo, is another exciting prospect.
France’s twins Julia and Magdalena Domin arrive fresh from a duet silver medal at the recent European Youth Championships, while Poland’s Kacper Kasprzyk, a double bronze medalist at that competition, will contest the men’s solo and mixed duet events alongside his triplet sisters.
The home team will also be aiming to shine in front of the Munich crowd, with Germany set to compete in the team technical and team acrobatic events, women’s duet technical and free, and both women’s solo competitions.
The championships begin tomorrow with the women’s solo free preliminary at 10:00, followed by the duet free preliminary at 18:00. The five days of competition will conclude on Saturday, July 4 with the team free final.
Christina Marmet for European Aquatics
