"VAN" (Sports Desk - 17.10.2025) :: The Artistic Swimming World Cup opener in Medellin marks the first time Colombia will host a World Cup event. It will also be just the fourth time the country has staged an international aquatics competition, following the 1975 World Aquatics Championships in Cali and the Men’s and Women’s Water Polo Challenger Cups in Barranquilla in 2021. Colombia has also been making its mark in artistic swimming, with Gustavo Sanchez earning silver in the Men’s Solo Free at the Fukuoka 2023 Worlds and bronze in the Men’s Solo Technical at the Doha 2024 edition.
Since its debut at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, artistic swimming has been dominated by northern hemisphere athletes. Of the more than 360 medals awarded across 22 world championships, only two have gone to athletes from the Southern Hemisphere.
"For Medellin to host the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup is something truly special, not only for Colombia but for all of Latin America,” said Sanchez, the 2024 World Aquatics Male Artistic Swimmer of the Year. “Having this as the first World Cup ever held in our country just shows how far our sport has come. Growing up, artistic swimming was something we watched from afar, dominated by athletes in the northern hemisphere. To now welcome the world’s best to Colombia is an incredible source of inspiration for today’s athletes and for the next generation. This really is a dream come true for me and so many other artistic swimmers.”
The Complejo acuático Atanasio Girardot, recently renovated for the 2025 PanAm Aquatics Championships, will serve as the Medellin event venue.
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