Podium Finishes and Promising Futures for Team USA in Greece

The 2025 Youth National Team entered Greece for the Youth World Championships with excitement in their hearts and goals in their minds, as this marked the first World Championship experience for the entire roster. 

With only six weeks of team training before the competition, the athletes were determined to deliver memorable routines that would bring emotion to the audience. 

Arguably one of the most up-and-coming USA Youth athletes, Jaclyn Zhuge, opened the competition for Team USA in the Free Solo routine in the preliminary rounds. After a strong swim and finishing in 2nd place, Zhuge felt confident in her performance. “After the performance I felt very happy and confident that I had completed everything. Of course, I felt I still had room for improvement, but I was proud of myself. For finals I will make sure to focus on my facials and bring more energy to the stage, as well as my difficulty.” 

After such a high placement, Zhuge and the coaching staff were determined to make sure she held her spot on the podium. “We are planning to increase DD a little bit to assure that we can fight for the podium. Of course, gold medal is always the goal. This competition is very strong and unpredictable, but we will do everything possible in our control to secure a medal,” shared Youth National Team Coach Anna Yesipova. 

Days later in the finals, Zhuge was locked in as ever during her swim to fight to stay on the podium. “I was focusing on every move that I had to complete. I also thought of the judges around me and how to look at them. I made sure that my swim was clean.” The young talent held her 2nd place position, increasing her score by eight points, and after factoring in her figures scores, secured a bronze medal in the Youth Free Solo category. 

Although this was a very exciting moment, Youth National Team staff saw her potential from the very beginning: “From the moment I met Jackie I knew she could be an excellent artistic swimmer. It was incredible watching her swim this good. I know it’s just the beginning for her and we will see many more of Jackie’s achievements on the world stage.” 

It was finally time for the highly anticipated male soloist Xavier Wang to take the international stage. Coaching staff shared that Wang stands out tremendously on the pool deck: “Xavier’s profile is a bit different from other youth soloists. His strength, height and power really stood out all summer. Our strategy was to show that strong and masculine style. The feedback from the judges was impressive as they praised his T9 height and catch to be above average.” 

Wang landed in a strong 2nd place after the preliminary rounds but was determined to improve his score for the finals. When the finals approached, Wang had an exceptional performance and shared he was relieved when he secured silver medal position on the podium. 

It was time for Team USA to take the stage on the second day of competition, performing their iconic ‘Jungle’ themed routine that was curated by the athletes themselves. 

Prior to the preliminary rounds, Team USA was hesitant about successfully completing a hybrid. After reviewing the 2023 World Championship results, the team realized they had a shot to improve their score. Following a pep talk from the coaching staff, they decided to take a risk for the hardware. 

The red, white, and blue delivered a clean swim and surpassed France to secure 2nd place with a total score of 261.9767—earning a silver medal. 

Jaclyn Zhuge and Yillian Yuan debuted their Free Duet routine with a declared difficulty of 192.6901 in the preliminary rounds. After receiving a basemark, the duo sat in 6th place. With a clean swim and strong figures scores, Zhuge and Yuan climbed to 4th place overall. 

Youth National Team Coach Yesipova shared her pride in their performance: “The girls did amazing! Basemarks happen, especially on acrobatic movements—those are really risky, and we took a risk. Most importantly they showed an amazing level of athleticism and put out there a very strong competition. I truly believe that this is actually more important than a placement. In my heart they won a medal just exactly how they should have been.” 

Hevin Park and Xavier Wang represented the U.S. in the Mixed Duet category, scoring a total of 195.4650 points in the preliminary round and finishing in 2nd place. The duo advanced to the finals, where they increased their score by 27.4525 points. 

The team then took the stage for the Team Combo preliminary rounds. The routine received a small basemark, placing them in 8th, but the athletes executed the story through their performance exceptionally. 

Following the prelims, coaching staff made the decision to increase difficulty and improve transitions in hopes of walking away with hardware. After a stand-out performance in the finals, the team catapulted from 8th place to 4th—just within arm’s reach of the podium. 

The 2025 Youth World Championships came to a close with Team USA making their mark and ensuring a promising future for the sport of artistic swimming in the United States.