Luxembourg 2026: Russia take house group trophy as curtain comes down on European Aquatics Youth Artistic Swimming Championships

The remaining day of the European Aquatics Youth Artistic Swimming Championships Luxembourg 2026 introduced three extra units of medals, as the ladies’s duet free, males’s solo free and free mixture finals rounded off a rare 4 days of competitors on the Centre National Sportif et Culturel “La Coque”, with Russia taking each single medal on supply, in addition to the general group trophy.

The nation’s stranglehold on the competitors confirmed no indicators of loosening when the day started with the ladies’s duet free remaining, as Mariia Pakhomova and Emiliia Osiiuk claimed gold on 302.23.

The pair, who had topped the preliminary earlier within 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 appeared misplaced in a junior or even perhaps senior competitors, the pairing as soon as once more took the highest spot.

Spain claimed silver on 271.94 in what was additionally a equally spectacular story. Abril Caballero Garcia, who was already a silver medallist from Saturday’s solo remaining, was joined by Julia Villalonga for his or her vikings-themed routine set to Filip Lackovic’s Drums of the Horde.

The pair had come from completely different golf equipment and by no means skilled collectively earlier than Luxembourg, but constructed a partnership sturdy sufficient to earn a European Championships podium in only a matter of days.

Their rating did simply sufficient to separate them from a powerful chasing pack in what was a robust remaining.

France’s twins Julia and Magdalena Domin claimed bronze on 262.76 with their cat-themed routine, choreographed by Alexia Vito, incomes a medal so as to add to their standing as 2026 French Elite Champions in each the Under 15 and Junior classes.

Greece completed fourth on 255.55, Switzerland fifth and Croatia sixth, whereas Hungary collected an 8-point penalty that disrupted their remaining night within the competitors.

The Men’s Solo Free produced one of many closest contests of the whole championships. Russia’s Nikita Bodrov claimed gold on 344.58, edging France’s Dylan Freitas by simply 3.67 factors in a end that gripped the world.

Freitas truly posted the upper free rating – 201.99 to Bodrov’s 195.16 – however Bodrov’s figures benefit 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 informed the story of a romantic relationship rekindled by way of small gestures.

Freitas, performing his Bohemian Pulse routine to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, delivered a efficiency stuffed with theatrical power and musical distinction that pushed Bodrov all the best way and drew heat appreciation from the La Coque crowd.

Bronze went to Greece’s Stylianos Koukouselis on 325.46, bringing the curtain down on his youth profession with a medal.

His Elvis Presley-themed routine, which set to the JXL remix of A Little Less Conversation and chosen intentionally to get pleasure from his remaining youth competitors, noticed him bow out with a podium end.

Italy’s Andrea Garuti completed fourth, Poland’s Kacper Kasprzyk fifth and Spain’s Miguel Martinez Morales sixth.

With the night session starting, Russia saved one remaining assertion for the final occasion of the competitors. Their Free Combination group claimed gold on 267.67 with The Shaolin Way, which wasn a sweeping, highly effective programme choreographed by Svetlana Ponkratova to a Gothic Storm music medley, constructed across the theme of self-knowledge and non secular progress by way of adversity.

Featuring a male athlete competing within the free mixture occasion for the primary time in Russian aggressive historical past, it was a landmark efficiency to finish a landmark week, and the squad, which incorporates winners of the 2025 World Junior Championships, delivered it with the precision we have now come to count on 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 nationwide group and delivered with the power and aptitude the music calls for. The routine was put collectively in simply two weeks, however you wouldn’t have been capable of guess it as a result of their stable grasp of its intricacies.

Greece took bronze on 223.85 with their Egypt-themed routine, impressed by the traditional connection between Greece and Egypt by way of the Mediterranean Sea.

Set to a medley together with Cirque du Soleil’s Incantation, Will Smith’s Arabian Nights and Sarah Schachner’s Return of the Medjay, and carried out in swimsuits of blue, white and gold representing the waters of the Mediterranean and the Nile, the routine was the primary time this explicit group had competed collectively, having skilled for simply six weeks. Italy completed fourth on 220.12 and France fifth on 215.99.

All in all, Russia’s dominance throughout the week was mirrored within the total standings. They claimed the general group trophy and topped the medal desk with seven golds, one silver and one bronze, which made 9 medals in whole throughout the whole competitors.

Spain completed second within the medal desk with 4 silvers, claiming the COMEN Cup group trophy within the course of, whereas 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 every claimed a bronze to finish the medal desk.

That group mixture remaining delivered to a detailed a Championships that will probably be remembered lengthy after the athletes have left Luxembourg. The performances all through the week confirmed that the way forward for creative swimming is shiny on the continent.

Click right here to entry the occasion web page.

Click here to catch-up on all the action on EuroAquaticsTV.

Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics