Filippo Pelati and Lucrezia Ruggiero Win a Splendid European Bronze: Italy’s Medal Tally Grows in Paris

Italy’s second medal in artistic swimming—and its third overall at the European Swimming Championships in Paris—was won by Filippo Pelati (who had already taken bronze on Friday in the technical solo) and Lucrezia Ruggiero. The Italian pair won a splendid bronze medal in the mixed free duet with 255.1641 points, confirming their status as among the best performers in the discipline and adding to the Italian team’s medal tally in aquatic sports.

Pelati and Ruggiero performed their most iconic routine once again, the “Argentine Tango” set to the music of “Jealousy Tango” by Katica Illényi, with choreography by Anastasia Ermakova. A 2’41″5 performance that conveyed jealousy, tension, passion, and balance—all elements typical of the tango: the routine, which had already secured victory at the World Cup in Paris on March 29, earned 110.4141 points for technical elements and 144.7500 points for artistic impression.

Having already placed fourth at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, Pelati and Ruggiero have demonstrated that they have grown even further, especially artistically. “We went into the water feeling relaxed, thinking only about executing the moves we’d practiced in training,” Pelati told the Italian Swimming Federation’s official channels. “We’re happy: we wanted to improve our artistic impression, and we succeeded. We received some deductions for synchronization—I think it was 5.6 points—and we need to work on that, while continuing to improve our execution.”

The competition was won by the British pair Thorpe-Tomblin, with 258.2383 points, followed by the Spanish duo Gonzalez Boneu-Tio Casas (257.9733) and the Italian pair. The Russian pair Rumiantseva-Trofimov, competing under a neutral flag, finished off the podium in fourth place with 238.0834 points, following a routine in which they were penalized for two errors on elements, despite an aggressive and visually striking performance.