The Artistic Swimming competition in the Hungarian capital counts 341 athletes representing 44 nations who will be contesting ten sets of medals over the next seven days in the Szechy outdoor pool on the magical Margaret Island. In the pool, named after legendary Hungarian water polo coach Tamas Szechy, Japan’s Yukiko Inui, Ukraine’s Marta Fiedina and Greece’s Evangelia Platanioti wrote their names into the history books in the Technical Solo event.

With 92.8662 points, Yukiko Inui, clinched Japan’s first-ever World Championship gold medal. Inui chose to swim her routine, “The legend of Phoenix” to the music she previously used for a Solo Free choreography by Japanese artist, composer, and musician Hideki Togi.  Winner of the bronze medal in Gwangju 2019, today Inui made history in Budapest for herself, Japan, and for the sport of Artistic Swimming.

“The gold medal means a lot for me and I am very happy. I will try my best to win again in Fukuoka as I was inspired by the Japanese swimmers who won the first gold medal in artistic swimming for Japan at the FINA World Championship in Fukuoka in 2001.”

At just twenty years old Marta Fiedina is considered one of the most promising Artistic Swimming athletes. After barely missing the podium at the 2019 Gwangju FINA World Championships, Fiedina won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Her performance of the “Enchantress” routine swum to music by contemporary Hungarian composer Havasi Balazs, earned her a solid 91.9555, to claim her first World Championship medal as a soloist, and Ukraine’s first silver medal in the event.

“For me, it was very important to win this medal as I want the people to know all around the world that Ukraine is strong. I won this medal for my country. I am really happy to be able to represent and build the legacy of my country.”

Veteran Evangelia Platanioti brought Greece its first-ever medal at a FINA World Championships, a bronze. Platanioti, with three Olympic Games under her belt, has been representing Greece as a soloist since 2009. The emotional and unique music choice “Her and the Sea” by Sebastian McKinnon complemented Platanioti’s choreography as a “Sirene” beautifully earning her 89.5110 for this historic moment in Greece’s Artistic Swimming.

“It is a dream come true to stand on the podium at a World Championships. All my focus was on this event in this year and I had the right mentality to fight for this medal. What I am the proudest of is that I use my own choreography and I like the elements. I loved the fans and everything around me and that helped me to perform better."

Two other preliminary rounds, the Free Combo and the Mixed Duet Technical events were contested today to determine the competitors for the finals which are scheduled for Monday, June 22 in the afternoon.  

The finals of the Free Combo event will prove to be an exciting showdown for the top honors. With the absence of all previous winners except Japan, Ukraine, who finished first in the preliminary round, will have another opportunity to make history. The Combination teams from Italy, Greece, and Israel will all have to bring their very best to make it to the podium.

History was already made in the Mixed Duet Technical, just by the number of Mixed Duet participants. The increase in pairs, requiring a preliminary and a final round, shows the growth of the male participants and the Mixed Duet event.  While veteran Italians Giorgio Minisini and Lucrezia Ruggiero are the most decorated pair in the field, the debutantes representing Japan, siblings Tomoka and Yotaro Sato, China’s Haoyu Shi and Yiyao Zhang, and USA’s Claudia Coletti and Kenneth Gaudet all will have the opportunity to reach the podium.

The programme for Sunday June 19th includes the preliminary rounds for the Team Technical as well as the Duet Technical Finals. Full results of the Championships can be found here as well as information for the live broadcasts.