Seven-time Olympic Champion synchronised swimmer Svetlana Romashina has been named the head coach of the highly touted Russian synchronized swimming team following the resignation of longtime coach Tatyana Pokroskaya.
According to Russian Swimming, Pokrovskaya began her career at the helm of the Russian synchronized swimming team in 1997 and nominated Roamshina as her successor when she announced she was stepping down in November. Pokrocskaya will still work with the team in an advisory role to the Chairperson of the Russian Synchronized Swimming Federation.
Romanshina boasts a career that includes seven Olympic gold medals across four Olympic Games (Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020) and 21 World Championship gold medals, with her first coming in Montreal in 2005, when she was just 15 years old.
Her international medal haul is purely gold, with an additional 13 European Championship titles and a pair of Summer Universiade golds, bringing her total to 43 across the four major competitions.
Following her two gold medals in Tokyo (Duet and Team events), Romashina became the most decorated Olympic artistic swimmer in the history of the sport. Her 21 World Championship titles are also a record for artistic swimming.
In February of 2023, less than two years after her double-gold showing in Tokyo, Romashina announced her retirement from the sport at age 33.
Prior to the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Russian synchronized swimming team had won team gold in every Olympics since Sydney in 2000. Russia was notably banned from competing in the 2024 games due to its involvement in the war in Ukraine.
Russia’s World Championship success mirrors that of their Olympic resume. The Russian team successfully won the team free routine and team technical routine gold medals in seven straight World Championships between 2007 and 2019. Prior to that, the Russian team captured gold in the team routine at four straight World Championships from 1998 to 2005.
