Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
At the third leg of the World Cup in Xi’an, China, 21-year-old Klara Bleyer earned her seventh podium finish of the artistic swimming season by winning the Women’s Solo Free event. Performing to Richard Strauss’ ‘Space Odessey’ track, Bleyer secured victory by a narrow margin of 0.1949 points over Belarusian Vasilina Khandoshka, with a total score of 282.8000. Bleyer described the outcome as lucky and noted that Germany is not usually at this level in artistic swimming, adding that she aims to maintain her position and enjoy the experience.
Khandoshka, who won this contest last season in Xi’an, expressed happiness with her performance and the audience support. She highlighted achieving the full score for declared difficulty and said performing well was more important than her placement. Khandoshka is also the 2025 World Championships silver medallist.
Completing the podium was 17-year-old Ekaterina Shtatnova, who claimed her first World Cup medal with a score of 279.5714 points. Shtatnova compared her comfort and flexibility in the water to that of a fish and felt positive about her routine.
In the Team Acrobatic Final, seven teams from five nations competed. Host nation China claimed two of the three podium places, showing depth in talent. However, Russia took gold with their 'Chaos Dolls' routine, earning a difficulty score of 24.0250 and a final total of 227.9089 points. Mayya Doroshko, a three-time World champion, said the gold was significant for the team due to the routine’s recent development and that they were pleased with the judges’ reception.