European Aquatics Athlete of the Year Awards 2025: women’s artistic swimming nominees

Italy’s Enrica Piccoli picked up the first international gold of her career at the European Aquatics Artistic Swimming Championships in Funchal as she combined with Lucrezia Ruggiero to win the women’s duet free routine.

It was Italy’s first European duet title victory.

The 26-year-old from Castelfranco Veneto added individual silver in the solo free routine.

Piccoli had hit form earlier in the year, claiming solo free gold at the second World Aquatics World Cup in Somabay, Egypt.

And Piccoli had further success at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore where, again partnering Ruggiero, she claimed her fourth world silver in the duet free routine.

Spain’s Iris Tio Casas won three golds and three bronzes at the World Aquatics Championships, helping her country finish third overall with a total of nine medals.

The 22-year-old artistic swimmer from Barcelona collected bronze medals from the women’s solo technical and the team free events before claiming her first individual world gold in the solo free.

A few hours later she helped Spain earn another bronze in the team technical final.

After picking up a second gold in the women’s duet free partnering 18-year-old Lilou Lluis Valette, Tio Casas won her third title in tandem with Dennis Gonzalez in the mixed duet free on the final day of the artistic swimming programme.

She had prepared in ideal fashion for Singapore with her performance in Funchal, where she won three European golds, two silvers, and a bronze.

Germany’s Klara Bleyer began her year with a highly successful sequence of performances at the World Aquatics World Cup, winning solo free gold at the first leg in Paris, adding solo technical gold at Somabay in Egypt and then taking solo free silver at the World Cup Super Final in Xi’an, China.

The 21-year-old Berliner then distinguished herself by becoming the first German athlete to win solo gold at the European Aquatics Championships, something she accomplished in Funchal.

As well as earning world gold with Tio Casas in the women’s duet free, Lluis picked up bronze medals in the team acrobatic and technical routines.

Earlier in the season at the Europeans she had won team technical gold, silvers in the duet free and duet technical with Tio Casas and Meritxell Ferre respectively and bronze in the acrobatic routine.

After sharing the distinction of providing Italy with its first European duet gold medal in company with Piccoli, Ruggerio, 25, added bronze in the mixed duet technical routine at Funchal partnering 18-year-old Filippo Pelati.

She and Pelati added world bronze in the same event, and Ruggeiro also partnered Piccoli to duet free silver.

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics

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