Latest news with #RanjuoTomblin
Straits Times
22-07-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
‘Beautiful to see other men try this sport', say male artistic swimmers
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Britain's Ranjuo Tomblin initially faced sceptism from friends about his decision to go into artistic swimming, but says perceptions have changed since. SINGAPORE – When Ranjuo Tomblin first dipped his toes into artistic swimming in 2017, some of his friends questioned his choice of sport. Despite the scepticism, the Briton stayed the course. Over time, those friends came around and now support the 19-year-old's endeavours. At 15, Tomblin became the first artistic male swimmer to represent Britain internationally when he competed at the 2021 European Junior Championships. Since then, he has pushed the boundaries in a discipline traditionally viewed as a women's sport, achieving success at the European level and World Cup circuit. He said: 'It's not a well-known sport, it's not the usual football, rugby, which in Great Britain are quite common. 'At the beginning, my friends were a bit – I wouldn't say not accepting – but just a bit like 'that's a bit weird' and stuff like that. 'But as I've gone through the years, gotten those results, I feel like it's definitely more accepted by my friends.' Tomblin's journey is not an isolated one, but part of a larger transformation in artistic swimming as it gradually began embracing male participation. The pivotal moment came in 2015, when the World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia, introduced mixed duets – the first time male athletes competed at the global level. Since then, the opportunities for men in the sport have grown, with the inclusion of solo events and male swimmers in team routines at the world championships. At the ongoing World Aquatics Championships (WCH) in Singapore, there are 22 male athletes competing across seven events, in contrast to the 2015 edition, which featured 10 male swimmers across two events. Much of this progress has been paved by trailblazers like American Bill May, who has become synonymous with male participation in artistic swimming. Today, a new generation is building on his legacy. Among them is Chile's Nicolas Campos, who is competing at the WCH Arena this week. The 17-year-old, who is the first male artistic swimmer to represent Chile at major international competitions, is encouraged to see interest in the sport growing among men. Nicolas, a medallist at the World Junior Artistic Swimming Championships, said: 'It's beautiful to see other men try this sport. I think it's very beautiful and people don't have the fear of being judged by other people.' Chile's Nicolas Campos is encouraged to see more men competing in artistic swimming. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO For Tomblin, the shift is evident at the grassroots level back home. He noted that there were about five mixed duets at the 2025 National Age Groups competition in England. In the past, he often competed alone. But Swedish swimmer David Martinez noted that although participation has increased and there are more opportunities, lingering perceptions that artistic swimming is meant only for women makes it challenging to attract more men. He said: 'I think a lot of people have assumptions... I do think you need to grow up, it's really not (the case). Dancing is for everyone, it's a form of art, it's a sport. Sport and art is for everyone and I feel like people are too close-minded.' While he feels there has been progress, Sweden's David Martinez also noted that assumptions that artistic swimming is only for women makes it challenging to get more men in the sport. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO One of the sport's brightest stars, Spain's Dennis Gonzalez, has had to navigate those challenges. After winning gold in the solo technical event at the 2024 European Championships, he found himself the target of hateful comments online. He told that his first instinct was to hide, but the world champion responded by posting a video condemning the hate. In that interview, Gonzalez, who has claimed a silver and bronze in Singapore, said: 'If I show weakness, how is a younger person supposed to face those comments? 'I want to show that no matter what, I'll keep doing what I love.' Spain's Dennis Gonzalez condemned hateful remarks he received online after winning the solo technical event at the 2024 European championships. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO While the roster of men's events at the world level has expanded, participation at the Olympics remains limited. Men were allowed to compete at the Olympics for the first time at the 2024 Paris Games, although none of the teams fielded men. The 2028 Los Angeles Games will not feature mixed duets. For many male athletes, their mission is not only personal success but creating a platform that encourages others to follow in their footsteps. Russia's Aleksandr Maltsev, a veteran in the sport with six world championships gold medals, feels the responsibility to keep going to inspire aspiring artistic swimmers. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO Russia's Aleksandr Maltsev, winner of the men's solo free and technical in Singapore, said: 'It's very difficult to show every time very high technical and artistic impression. 'I work very hard every day to show my best in the competition and show young athletes an example because they are watching for me as a role model so I'm very pleased.'
BBC News
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Tomblin wins European gold in four-medal haul
Ranjuo Tomblin became men's solo technical champion as he won four medals and Great Britain secured six medals in total at the European Artistic Swimming Championships in won the men's solo free title at last year's competition - becoming the first British male to win a European artistic swimming title - Tomblin took gold in the solo technical with a score of 234.4225 gave the 19-year-old a 1.7966-point advantage over silver medallist Filippo Pelati, with bronze going to Spain's Dennis Gonzalez picked up bronze in this year's solo free event, and won a further two medals in the mixed part in their first championship together, Tomblin and Olympic silver medallist Izzy Thorpe won silver in the mixed duet technical also partnered with Holly Hughes to win bronze in the mixed duet free. Having previously been part of the multi-discipline European Aquatics Championships, the competition was a stand-alone event for the first time this year.
BBC News
01-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
GB's Tomblin makes history with World Cup gold
Britain's Ranjuo Tomblin has created more history with victory in the men's tech solo event at the Artistic Swimming World Cup in 19-year-old, who became GB's first male artistic swimming European champion last year, is now his nation's first male World Cup medal who has said he wants to change the perception of the sport, scored 214.3966 from the judges for his routine in the opening event of the Kim of Kazakhstan took silver with 213.8167 while bronze went to Spain's Jordi Caceres Iglesias who finished on 213.5992."I totally didn't expect it, we just came here to test our routines," Tomblin said. "I'm really grateful to have the chance to test our routines at the big competitions, so I'm just really happy and I can't really believe this has happened."The victory came in the same city where Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe won duet silver last year to claim Britain's first Olympic medal in the sport and their performance has inspired Tomblin."Kate and Izzy are really opening the door for us as a newer generation of athletes," he added. "They've made us realise that Great Britain is actually quite good at this sport, and that has given us a lot of confidence."When you win medals, it's definitely like, 'oh look, look at what I'm doing' - and it really shows what all the hard work is doing for us."
