Women's Team Highlight

Ukraine

Ukraine won this event at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. It was the only artistic swimming world aquatics championship event not won by Russia that year..

Ukraine's win in this event in 2019 marked the country's first artistic swimming gold medal at the world aquatics championships.

Ukraine is the reigning European champion in this event, winning ahead of Belarus (2nd) and Hungary (3rd) in Budapest in May 2021.


United States

United States did not participate in this event at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships.

In the 2022 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series, USA won all four team highlight events. Note: only one of those four events (in Paris) was an all-female event.

USA won five team events at the world aquatics championships before, all between 1973 and 1994. Following USA's gold medal in 1994, Russia (18) and Ukraine (1) claimed gold in all team events held at the world aquatics championships until Budapest 2022.


Other contenders

Canada missed out on a podium spot in this event at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, finishing fourth in Gwangju.

Canada finished second in the three team highlight events at the 2022 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series it participated in, including the all-female event in Paris in April.

Chile can win its first medal in an artistic swimming event at the world aquatics championships, and the first for a South American country.

Chile claimed bronze in the all-female team highlight event in the FINA World Series in Paris in April.

Mixed Duet Free Routine  

Spain

Emma Garcia (ESP) and Pau Ribes (ESP) won this event at the 2022 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series events in Paris in April and in Athens in May.

Garcia and Ribes finished fifth in this event at the world aquatics championships in 2019.

Pau Ribes finished fifth in this event in 2015 and 2017, along with duo partners Gemma Mengual in 2015 and Berta Ferreras in 2017.


Japan

Tomoka Sato (JPN) and Yotaro Sato (JPN) can hand Japan its first gold medal in a mixed artistic swimming event at the world aquatics championships. Japan took a bronze medal in the mixed duet free routine and the mixed duet technical routine in 2019.

At Budapest 2022, Tomoka and Yotaro Sato can become the first brother-sister duo to win a medal in an artistic swimming event at the world aquatics championships.


Other contenders

Russia won this event at each of the previous three world aquatics championships it was held.

Italy won silver in this event at the last two world aquatics championships, in 2017 and 2019, and had to settle for bronze in 2015. Giorgio Minisini (ITA) was part of all those teams.

Federica Sala (ITA) and Nicolo Ogliari (ITA) took silver in this event at the 2022 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series Super Final in Athens last month, behind the Spanish duo.

Puerto Rico took third place in this discipline in a virtual World Series event in March. Its only medal at the world aquatics championships is a bronze swimming medal by Ricardo Busquets in the men's 50m freestyle event in 1998.