The Spanish artistic swimming team won a silver medal in the acrobatic routine at the European Championships on Wednesday after performing to music by Rosalía.
The squad, led by head coach Andrea Fuentes, introduced additional high difficulty elements into their program in an effort to challenge Russia, who returned to international competition with strong performances.
Spain performed their routine to the track Berghain, taken from Rosalía's album LUX. Fuentes previously told news agency EFE that hearing the song sparked a creative revelation that prompted her to redesign the team's concept for the current Olympic cycle.
Fuentes said her aim was to build a routine capable of touching the soul and making audiences' hair stand on end. The creative shift has already brought success in Paris, where Spanish swimmers collected a total medal tally of one gold, five silvers, and two bronzes.
Gold medal triumph in Paris pool
The silver medal followed another historical milestone for Spanish sport a day earlier, when Iris Tió won Spain's sole gold medal in the Paris pool.
Tió secured her gold medal while performing to another track from the LUX album, titled Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti. The album has earned widespread praise from critics and listeners, as well as endorsement from American pop icon Madonna.
Fuentes has openly expressed her admiration for the singer from Barcelona and said she hopes Rosalía will one day attend a live competition to watch the national team perform routines set to her music.
A partnership rooted in previous success
Tió's victory in Paris marks the continuation of a successful relationship between the swimmer and Rosalía's musical catalog. At last year's World Championships in Singapore, Tió claimed a bronze medal using Rosalía's rendition of Me quedo contigo.
Rosalía originally performed her version of the classic song by Spanish rumba group Los Chunguitos during the 2019 Goya Awards ceremony. Her adaptation imbued the track with her signature style, establishing an initial link with Spain's artistic swimming squad that has continued into recent major tournaments.
Artistic swimming, formerly known as synchronized swimming, combines aquatic skills with dance and gymnastics, requiring precise timing to background music. Under Fuentes, a former Olympic medalist who took charge of the national setup, Spain has reestablished itself among Europe's top artistic swimming nations.
