Ranjuo Tomblin won all four events he contested in artistic swimming at the European Aquatics Championships, which are being held in Paris. The 20-year-old Briton claimed the men’s solo technical and free titles before adding gold in the mixed duet technical and free events alongside Izzy Thorpe. Their clean sweep follows the four titles they secured at the World Cup Super Final in Toronto in June and confirms Tomblin’s dominance during a season in which he is still searching for a route to Los Angeles 2028.
Born to a Japanese mother and a British father, Tomblin grew up in Sussex combining swimming with gymnastics. In 2017, when he was around 11, a local coach saw him swim and suggested that he try what was then known as synchronised swimming. “I like that it combines multiple sports in one and that there’s never an easy moment,” he told Inside Synchro. “It’s always challenging because there are so many aspects to it. I think it’s really cool to be able to express yourself through a routine.” The absence of male role models around him was immediately apparent: “When I first tried artistic swimming, I could obviously see that there were no males, but once I tried it out, I really enjoyed it.”
The only boy in the pool
During his early years in the sport, Tomblin trained entirely alongside girls and regularly had to explain his choice outside the pool. “It was definitely hard at first, making friends with the stigma that it’s a girls’ sport,” he acknowledged in an interview with Team GB. His friends associated men’s sport with disciplines more commonly followed in the UK: “My friends always used to wonder why I was doing this and not football or another generic sport.” Tomblin has explained that he did not encounter outright rejection, but rather disbelief and comments that gradually changed as his results improved. “As I’ve grown and developed and got a few medals in the bag, they definitely respect what I do more and think it’s cool.”
His family made it possible for that decision to become an international career. His older sister, Leanne, supported him during his early years and was once his mixed duet partner. His mother regularly drove him from Sussex to Bristol, where the British national team trained. “I have also been training in Bristol every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. My mum is driving me there; this all wouldn’t be possible without her,” Tomblin explained in 2023. In 2020, he and Maxwell Sewell became the first two boys selected for the Swim England Artistic Swimming Talent Pathway and national youth squad. A year later, aged 15, he made his in-person debut at the European Junior Championships in Malta, becoming the first male artistic swimmer to represent Great Britain at an international championship.
A career built on firsts
In 2023, Tomblin also became the first man to represent Team GB in artistic swimming at the European Games in Poland. Alongside Beatrice Crass, he won bronze in the mixed duet technical event and delivered the British delegation’s first medal of those Games. “I’m still shaking a bit, but I hope that by winning this medal I can encourage other boys into the sport and show it’s for everyone,” he said. One year later, despite suffering a back injury at the start of the season, he won the men’s solo free title at the European Championships in Belgrade. He became the first British male European champion and delivered Great Britain’s first continental artistic swimming gold in 39 years. “To be able to do that and beat some of my idols and my main rivals, it’s just an unbelievable feeling,” he explained.
His progress continued in 2025 with the first World Cup medal and victory by a British man. “I totally didn’t expect it. We just came here to test our routines, so I’m really happy and I can’t really believe this has happened,” he admitted after winning in Paris. Tomblin credited part of his confidence to Kate Shortman and Thorpe, Britain’s 2024 Olympic medallists: “They’ve made us realise that Great Britain is actually quite good at this sport, and that has given us a lot of confidence.” He later earned mixed duet free bronze with Thorpe at the World Championships in Singapore. In 2026, Tomblin collected 13 medals, including eight golds, across the first four World Cup stops before winning all four of his events at the Toronto Super Final and repeating that sweep at the European Championships. While studying for a Sports Performance degree at the University of Bath, a World Aquatics scholarship helps fund his training. “Coming from a country that isn’t funded much in this sport, it’s definitely a massive help,” he said. The support covers training camps and choreography work, including trips to Italy to work with coach Stefania Speroni and collaborate with Giorgio Minisini. Bill May, the pioneering USA swimmer Tomblin considers the ‘GOAT’ of the discipline, also contributed to part of his mixed duet choreography with Thorpe.
The champion still searching for an Olympic route
Tomblin’s results do not, however, guarantee him a place at Los Angeles 2028. Neither the men’s solo nor the mixed duet appears on the programme, while the Olympic duet will remain limited to female pairs. Teams will consist of eight athletes and may include up to two men, meaning his only current route is to earn selection for the British team. Men were eligible to compete in the team event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but none of the ten qualified nations selected a male athlete. “The disappointing news of not including the mixed duet in the LA 2028 Olympics is quite upsetting, but there are other opportunities to get to the Olympics,” Tomblin said. “I’m just going to focus on improving each season, and then we will see if anything changes or where the sport will go for the males.”
When Tomblin started, he rarely encountered other boys at national competitions. By 2025, he counted around five mixed duets at England’s National Age Group Championships, still a modest number but a marked change from the pool he entered in 2017. His preparation must now adapt to the team event before Olympic qualification begins in 2027 through the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest and the continental championships. At the same time, he retains the objective that has accompanied each of his historic firsts: “I would love to inspire someone. It’s not just a girls’ sport, it’s anyone’s sport.”
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