Ukraine won the team free and combination free events at the La Mirada Aquatic Center, and Italy’s reigning world champions won in the technical event for mixed duet.

Ukraine’s "Beauty and the Beast" free combination scored 92 points to produce its fifth world series gold medal in the discipline.

Ukraine returned a few hours later to win the team free event, once again, earning more than 91 points for gold.

The only surprise was Japan's disqualification in the team free event despite earning the second-highest score of the night.

Japan’s swimmers did not match the start list, so its score was erased.

Minisini, 22, and Flamini, 30, reprised their 2017 world title-winning performance of "A Scream from Lampedusa", which depicts the tragic tale of the overloaded fishing boat that caught fire and sunk near the Italian Island of Lampedusa in October 2013, killing more than 300 of the 500 African migrants on board.

The pair’s swimsuits featured human handprints to represent those who died.

Although Minisini and Flamini’s score of 87.2572 points was not their highest this season, the victory was their third World Series win in the three they have entered following earlier successes in Paris and Tokyo.

Minisini admitted to being jet lagged after the 14-hour flight from Rome to California. 

"We have to get used [to it]," he told FINA..

"I think tomorrow [our free program] will be better."

Colombia’s Jhair Galeano, 26, and Ingrid Usuga, 23, earned the silver medal with a robot-themed technical programme that earned 76,4896 points.

In the free combination Ukraine has been perfecting the four-minute routine since its debut at the 2017 FINA World Championships and gained a winning score here of 92.0000.

"Some days it’s easier, some days it can be hard," said the team’s base Valeriia Aprielieva, "but we always try to do it the same."

Japan took the silver with a dramatic "Romeo and Juliet" routine that earned 89.3000 poits, and 83.5667 ensured bronze went to the United States, earning its first medal at its home meeting with a 10-woman squad whose average age is 16.

Seven of Ukraine’s earlier gold medallists helped earn a second victory in the team free event, earning 91.667 points with a routine that will next be seen at the European championships in Glasgow in August.

As a result of Japan’s disqualification, Canada moved up to the silver medal with its "Rising from the Ashes” programme, which earned 86.9667 points.

Japan’s disqualification also ensured a second bronze on the day for the home team, which totalled 84.3333 with its island-warrior "Moana" programme.

The US are next due to perform the routine at the 2018 Junior World Championships in Budapest next month.