Spain collects three more medals on 'Super Monday' at European Aquatics Championships in Paris

Spain's artistic swimming squad turned the third day of competition at the 2026 European Aquatics Championships into a 'Super Monday', collecting two bronze medals in the morning solo free finals and a silver in the team free event during the afternoon session at the Olympic Aquatics Centre in Paris.

Morning solo bronzes

Iris Tió, the reigning world champion, opened the medal count with bronze in the women's solo free. Her routine to 'L'Hymne à l'Amour' earned the highest artistic impression score of the final (145.6000 points), but a difficulty card ranked eighth among the twelve finalists left her unable to close the gap on the leaders. Vasilina Khandoshka of Belarus took gold with 292.3887 points, while Germany's Klara Bleyer, the defending European champion, claimed silver with 289.2463. Tió finished with 284.5550 points, repeating the bronze she won in Funchal in 2025.

I increased the difficulty by two points from the preliminaries, but it was still not enough against rivals who started with much higher base values.

Minutes later, Jordi Cáceres delivered the second bronze of the morning in the men's solo free. The 21-year-old Mallorcan, competing with ear protection after a perforated eardrum earlier in the season, performed a routine blending his classical dance and tap training to 'Gimme All Your Love' by Alabama Shakes. His artistic impression score of 123.1000 was second only to the winner. Britain's Ranjuo Tomblin defended his European title with 258.9188 points, securing his fourth gold of the championships. Italy's Filippo Pelati took silver with 252.8713. Russia's Zakhar Trofimov, competing as a neutral, saw his podium hopes collapse after two base marks penalised his routine, dropping him to 201.8313 points.

I knew my difficulty was lower, so I had to make every moment count emotionally. The crowd's reaction told me I had done that.

Difficulty gap haunts Spanish hopes

Across both solo events, the Spanish federation's persistent difficulty deficit was laid bare. Tió's routine carried 2.7 fewer difficulty points than Khandoshka's and 2.65 fewer than Bleyer's. Cáceres entered the men's final with a declared difficulty of 47.3500 points, against 62.6000 for Tomblin, 60.0000 for Pelati, and 59.0000 for Trofimov. The feared 'base marks' (basemarks) that nullify declared elements continued to shape the competition: Trofimov's two base marks opened the podium door for Cáceres, while the Spanish team had already suffered a base mark penalty in the women's technical duet that relegated Iris Tió and Lilou Lluís to eighth place on the opening day.

Team free silver behind returning Russia

The evening team free final saw Spain's eight-woman squad (Cris Arámbula, Txell Ferré, Marina García, Mireia Hernández, Aurora Lázaro, Lilou Lluís, Alisa Ozhogina, and Sara Saldaña) deliver their 'La Locura' routine, the same programme that won European gold and world bronze in 2025. Spain had qualified second, just six points behind Russia, and had posted the highest difficulty card of the preliminary round before a base mark on the second acrobatic element cost them the top seeding.

Russia, returning to the European Championships after a five-year absence with a heavily renewed team now coached by legendary former swimmer Svetlana Romashina, responded by adding five points of difficulty to its final routine. Its choreography, built around a dialogue with artificial intelligence, held off the Spanish challenge. Italy took bronze with 256.1558 points for its 'Angels and Demons' routine.

We were six points away in the prelims and we knew Russia would raise the bar. The team executed cleanly and that silver reflects the work of the whole cycle.

Medal table and what comes next

After Monday's three podiums, Spain's championship tally stands at five medals: three silvers (Tió and Lluís in women's free duet, Tió and Dennis González in mixed free duet, and the team free routine) and two bronzes (Tió in women's solo free, Cáceres in men's solo free). Tió returns to the pool on Tuesday at 09:00 for the direct final of the solo technical event.

In the diving programme at the same venue, Valeria Antolino placed seventh (282.55 points) and Ana Carvajal eleventh (270.60) in the women's 10-metre platform final. Britain's Maisie Bond won gold (327.05), ahead of Germany's Pauline Pfeif (305.30) and the Netherlands' Else Praasterink (305.15). Juan Pablo Cortés and Max Liñán finished seventh in the men's synchronised 3-metre springboard (361.62), won by Germany's Jonathan Gisbert Schauer and Lou Noel Guy Massenberg (423.84).