Iris Tió (Barcelona, 23 years old) has become the great Spanish figure of the European Swimming Championships in Paris. The Catalan, already world champion in solo free in 2025, was crowned continental champion in solo technical, the discipline in which the jury scores the execution of a series of mandatory elements against the open choreography of the solo free. She swam her routine, set to the rhythm of Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti by Rosalía, with an emotional charge that was reflected in the highest artistic impression score of the entire final. That was the factor that ultimately tipped the scales: she won by just two tenths over the Belarusian Vasilina Khandoshka, who had presented the highest difficulty score of the field.
It was her sixth medal of the championship: to the gold in solo technical were added two silvers in free duet, with Lilou Lluís, and in mixed duet, with Dennis González, the bronze in solo free, and two more silvers for teams, in the technical and acrobatic routines. With Tió as the most decorated swimmer of the team, six of the eight Spanish medals, Spain, led by coach Andrea Fuentes, closed the European as the team with the most medals at the event: eight in total, one gold, five silvers, and two bronzes. Tió symbolizes the present and future of a team that looks to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games as its great challenge.
Question. What does it feel like to be the first Spanish woman to achieve this European title? How did you experience the moment when the jury announced the results?
Answer. I was crying inside, honestly, super emotional. I was very excited to win that gold because I had always been told that I am very good artistically, but then winning a technical routine made me especially happy, because it shows that I am also improving in the technical part. That means I am consolidating myself more as an athlete.
Q. When the cameras focused on Andrea Fuentes, she also couldn’t hold back her emotion. Did seeing her like that touch your heart?
A. Yes. In fact, from one of the first days of putting the routine together, in an improvisation I did, she also started crying. It’s cool to see that I reach people’s souls without having to do anything. That makes me very happy.
Q. Between the Singapore World Championships and this European, you have multiplied in all routines, always coming away with a large number of medals. How do you manage to keep your body and mind through so many finals and so much pressure?
A. It’s pretty intense. When the European or the World comes, I get very focused, and the physical and mental wear, especially when I’m not competing, I try to manage by resting as much as possible and taking it easy: knowing when to push and when to relax, so to speak. This year we worked a lot on the physical part, we did crossfit and a good physical plan in the water, and I noticed it a lot: I arrived strong at the muscular level, I wasn’t dragging myself in the last days. The sleeping part has been harder, and I think the more pressure there is to win medals, the harder it is for me to relax at night. It’s something I can still improve.
Q. Mentally, when something doesn’t go as expected in training or in a final, do you demand a lot from yourself?
A. Yes, quite a bit. But I understand it’s part of training: if it wasn’t meant to be, it will be another time. The most important thing is to be satisfied with myself for having done everything possible. In solo free, for example, I was gold at the World Championships and now I got bronze, and that was a bit shocking. But I did everything in my power, the best I could, and with that I feel calm.
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Q. In this European, both you and the team have shown that emotion and art can win championships, with the importance that Spain always gives to the artistic component. Do you feel you have made a statement in favor of that?
A. Yes, that’s what sets us apart from other countries, with that energy and that attitude of going to conquer the pool. I think it’s something we have inside, that fire, and when necessary we bring it out.
Q. In the free duet, Lilou and you came close to gold, by only six tenths, against the Greek Alexandri sisters. How is the chemistry with her in such a high-level championship?
A. We were very happy because we had done very well. We are really very close: they are twins and have been doing duet together all their lives, and Lilou and I have been together for two years, we are still a very young duet. We need more training, more experience, and that makes us grow. Being almost there, but not quite, is what makes you keep training with more energy: next year we will continue with much more strength. This year, moreover, we have gotten to know each other better as a pair; last year we suddenly teamed up in the duet and learned as we went along.
Q. What is it like working under the direction of a role model like Andrea Fuentes?
A. I love it, she is the best coach I have ever had. We have fun, but at the same time we work hard, and when we go to competitions I feel confident because we have done what was needed.
Q. Do you feel that Spain, looking ahead to the World Championships in Budapest and Los Angeles 2028, can say it is back among the powerhouses of the sport and will fight for everything?
A. Totally. We are very proud to have gotten very close to Russia. Sometimes I think we intimidate them quite a bit, because they are paying a lot of attention to us: you can tell they are a little scared of us now. We are very close in terms of scores, when before we saw them as almost impossible to beat. I don’t see them that way anymore. Our goal is to keep improving and go for everything at the Los Angeles Games.
Q. Could it be said that the next big challenge is to make the definitive leap in Los Angeles?
A. Yes, totally, that is the big challenge. And also being true to our values and our way of doing things as a team, showing that we are a united and hardworking team.
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