Russia’s international breakthrough in synchronized swimming started at the 1993 Junior World Championships in Leeds when Olga Brusnikina won all of the solo, duet and team events. That same year, she was a member of the team that won at the European Championships.
After the Olympic Games in 1996 when Russia finished fourth in the team event, Brusnikina's dominance in synchro soon became apparent. She won the 1997 World Cup (duet and team) and never lost a major international competition for the next seven years, including the2000 Sydney Olympic Games (duet and team) and 2004 Athens Games (team, did not compete in duet).
She competed in three World Championships, winning gold medals at each of them —1998 (duet, team), 2001 (solo) and 2003 (team). She competed in six European Championships from 1993 to 2004, earning a total of nine gold medals.
Brusnikina is currently a member of the National Olympic Committee of Russia and coaches young synchro swimmers.