Latest news with #WorldAquaticsArtisticSwimmingWorldCupSuperFinal
Straits Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
China top artistic swimming medal table with four golds at the World Aquatics C'ships
Team China competing in the team acrobatic final at the World Aquatics Championships on July 25, 2025. SINGAPORE – Taking to the pool last at the World Aquatics Championships Arena on July 25, China delivered when it mattered most with a terracotta army-themed performance that clinched the team acrobatic title and consolidated their spot at the top of the medal standings. Heading into the final event of the artistic swimming competition, China, Spain and Russia, whose athletes are competing under neutral status, each had three golds, all with a chance to finish first in the artistic swimming medal table. In the end, it was the Chinese who prevailed, finishing top of the standings for the third time in four editions, with four golds and three silvers. Behind them were Russia's neutral athletes (3-3-2) and Spain (3-2-4). However, it was a far tighter contest than the 2024 world championships in Doha, where they claimed seven golds across 11 events. Later that year, China also swept the duet and team titles at the Paris Olympics, with powerhouses Russia absent. Cheered on by a near-capacity crowd at the 4,800-seat venue, the Chinese scored 229.0186 points. They were followed by the neutral athletes from Russia (224.7291) and Spain (221.0962). China head coach Zhang Xiaohuan said: 'Although the Chinese team won three team gold medals, I don't believe the Chinese team possesses absolute dominance. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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Expectations remained high after a strong showing at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final in June, when China swept all team titles and secured seven golds on home soil. An emotional Zhang shared that the team had faced challenges throughout their campaign – three days before they left for Singapore, Zhang Yayi fractured her foot and had to fly in a wheelchair. On July 25, Xu Huiyan, who had won the women's solo technical title earlier in the competition, came down with a high fever but still competed after taking medication. When asked if she was satisfied with the medal haul, Zhang admitted that she had higher expectations but also noted that they were still a work in progress. She said: 'This is the current strongest performance of our team in this new cycle, with this new line-up. I expect us to have an even better performance next time. 'We are also in the process of exploring and we are learning from our opponents. It's not like we're absolutely confident and feel like we're sure to win.' Meanwhile, Russia showed they remain a force on their return to the world meet after missing three editions due to sanctions imposed by World Aquatics in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Aleksandr Maltsev led the charge for the Russians, contributing to all three golds, after winning the men's solo technical and free, as well as the mixed duet technical title with Mayya Gurbanberdieva. Russia's Olesia Platonova said: 'We are very happy to be here. Of course, we see a higher level of athletes, many more members and competitors, especially men's artistic swimming, mixed duet – the level is higher year by year and this championships are a real celebration of that.' Spain capped an impressive campaign with their team acrobatic bronze, just hours after Iris Tio Casas and Dennis Gonzalez Boneu won the mixed duet free title with a score of 323.8563. They finished ahead of neutral athletes Maltsev and Platonova (323.4438) and Britain's Isabelle Thorpe and Ranjuo Tomblin (322.0583). In Singapore, they delivered several historic results, with Tio at the forefront. She claimed Spain's first women's solo title with her win in the solo free and also contributed to the country's first duet titles – both in the women's and mixed duet free – alongside Lilou Lluis Valette and Gonzalez Boneu respectively. Spanish coach Andrea Fuentes (second from left) hugging her artistic swimmers after they completed their performance in the team acrobatic final at the World Aquatics Championships. ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO They credited their performance to coach Andrea Fuentes, who returned home after guiding the United States to a team silver at the Paris Olympics. The Spaniard, a former artistic swimmer, had not expected success to come so quickly, but emphasised that her team's goals extended beyond medals. She said: 'Today, I told them in the morning, I don't care if it's gold, bronze, silver or 10th. What I want is when you finish and you say, 'I did my best', and that you make people enjoy, because otherwise you are not useful for society. 'Our job is to create this magic that inspires others – otherwise it's useless, just legs in the water, for what? It's so silly. But if the values that we represent are useful for others and make them feel stronger, then it's useful and it's much better than all the effort.'
Hans India
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Hans India
China's young artistic swimmers make a splash at home World Cup
With the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final having concluded in Xi'an on Sunday, host China dominated, winning seven of 11 events. China secured the team acrobatic title in the final discipline, adding to a silver and bronze medal won earlier in the day, reports Xinhua. Reigning Olympic champions in both duet and team events, China's team has been in a transitional period since the 2024 Paris Olympics, with veteran and younger athletes working together. Rising star Xu Huiyan, 19, has established herself as one to watch with exceptional technical skills and remarkable consistency. The teenager delivered a spectacular performance in Xi'an, claiming five gold medals from six events entered. After winning the women's solo technical and duet technical over the previous two days, Xu took a bronze in the solo free on Sunday and was also in China's winning line-up across three team events. The tight schedule tested her endurance. "The intensity of this competition was quite high for me, with a packed schedule from morning till night," she revealed. "With better stamina, I could have controlled my movements and techniques more precisely and stayed more focused. But when my energy runs low, like today, it really affects my performance." Her coach, Shen Yingsha, had initially been concerned about Xu's stamina, given this was her first time competing in multiple events, "Her performance exceeded expectations," said Shen. In the final, Vasilina Khandoshka scored 229.8476 to win the women's solo free, while Germany's Klara Bleyer came second in 227.5688. Xu placed third in 226.5251. Having started artistic swimming at seven, Xu loves the sport, and has prepared extensively for next month's World Championships. "During regular training, I practice for about eight to nine hours daily. If the session doesn't go well, I may extend it to ten hours," she said. On Saturday, Xu partnered with Lin Yanjun to win the women's duet technical event despite having only trained together for three weeks. Their dynamic routine earned an outstanding 289.6150 points, 8.1841 points ahead of Japan's decorated duo Moe Higa and Tomoka Sato. The new pairing was a strategic decision by head coach Zhang Xiaohuan, who led China to Olympic success last year in Paris. "We're testing different duet configurations before locking in our final pairs - it keeps everyone sharp and motivated through healthy competition," Zhang explained. The veteran coach sees even greater potential in Xu. "As one of China's top artistic swimmers, Huiyan can still elevate her performance, particularly in achieving more fluid extensions and refining the delicate precision of her leg movements. She has the potential to be even better." The 22-year-old Lin sisters, Yanjun and Yanhan, later reunited to claim gold in the duet free event. China won the duet event at the Paris Olympics thanks to twin sisters Wang Qianyi and Wang Liuyi, who did not compete in Xi'an. "Compared to Qianyi and Liuyi, we have so many things to improve," admitted Lin Yanjun. "We are still not as good as them." China's dominance extended to all three team events, where a balanced squad featuring four Olympic veterans and four newcomers delivered consistently strong performances. Their Terracotta Army-inspired routine in the team acrobatic on Sunday earned them 233.0430 points for the gold medal. Spain and Mexico ranked second and third respectively. "They are fantastic," said Zhang. "Both the veteran swimmers and the young swimmers performed very well. I'm very happy about the three team gold medals." The men's artistic swimming also caught spotlight with 17-year-old Guo Muye continuing his rapid ascent. Guo started artistic swimming at eight and his idol is China's famed artistic swimmer Shi Haoyu, two time mixed duet world champion with partner Cheng Wentao. "I was selected by coaches while training in competitive swimming," Guo recalled. "At that time, there were very few men practicing artistic swimming. My family gave me big support." Guo's family traveled from Beijing to Xi'an to cheer him on. "My father, aunt, uncle and little sister are all here supporting me," said Guo, whose twin brother, Guo Muxi, is also an artistic swimmer. Guo claimed one gold and three silvers in Xi'an, including victory in the men's solo free. On Sunday, he and Liu Jinhan secured the mixed duet free silver with 275.0896, over 15 points behind Spain's duo Dennis Gonzalez and Iris Tio, who won the discipline with 290.2184. Showing self-awareness, Guo acknowledged areas for growth. "My strength lies in the smooth execution of technical elements, but I still need to improve my artistic expression, which remains a weaker area," he said. Zhang expressed satisfaction with the younger swimmers' performances but added that there was much still to improve on. "We've identified weaknesses but also potential. Going forward, we'll focus on strengthening team cohesion and perfecting our synchronized execution," she said. "Competing at home in this pre-worlds event has given us much confidence - the perfect warm-up before the world championships," the coach added.
Straits Times
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Singapore's artistic swimmers gear up for home World C'ships with bronze in World Cup series
Team Singapore's Kiera Lee (from left), Debbie Soh, and Yvette Chong took home third place in the Duets for World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup 2025 series PHOTO: SINGAPORE AQUATICS SINGAPORE – In their final international outing ahead of the July 11-Aug 3 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, the Republic's artistic swimmers earned a confidence-boosting overall bronze medal at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final in Xi'an, China. Debbie Soh, 27, Yvette Chong, 17, and Kiera Lee, 16, won the bronze in the duet category of the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Series, which also came with a US$10,000 (S$12,800) prize money. Soh and Lee scored 183.6818 during their duet free routine at the Super Final in China on June 14, which placed them eighth out of 11 pairs in China. Chinese twins Lin Yanjun and Yanhan won the gold medal with 266.1442 points to finish ahead of duets from Spain and Japan. But Spain took the overall gold and US$15,000, while Kazakhstan bagged a silver as well as US$12,000 in the duet category of the World Cup Series. Chong said: 'It is a huge confidence boost ahead of the World Aquatics Championships. It reassures us that we're on the right track and gives us momentum for a strong showing as the host country.' For Soh, it is a milestone in a long campaign. 'It felt like our season began in December 2024, right after the exam period. Since then, we've been training six days a week, for about five to 10 hours a day, and have gone through multiple intensive training camps. It's been a challenging and hectic few months, but we stayed focused and motivated to rise above the challenges we faced along the way,' said Soh. The youngest of the trio, Kiera added: 'We feel very fulfilled that our efforts were rewarded. It wasn't in our expectations at all. We were more focused on hitting personal bests at every stop of the World Cup series, so we were taken aback by the final world ranking.' Final rankings are calculated based on the score from the Super Final and the top two scores from the rest of the series. To be ranked in the world series, teams must participate in at least two out of its three legs, plus the Super Final. The first three legs were in Paris, France (Feb 28-March 2), Somabay, Egypt (April 11-13) and Markham, Canada (May 1-3) before the June 13-15 Super Final in Xi'an. The artistic swimming national team's performance director Anastasia Goutseva said that the bronze was an 'incredible recognition for the athletes and the hard work they have put in throughout the year'. She added: 'The third-place overall ranking came as a bit of a surprise, but it shows that you have to dream big. It is a historic result for Singapore, and we are very happy that the team's effort has paid off.' Goutseva said that the duet (technical) score in Paris, the duet (free) in Egypt and their performances in the Super Final in Xi'an earned them the bronze. In Egypt, Chong and Soh had combined for 184.8755 points in the duet free to place 14th out of 23 and in Paris they scored 238.3992 to finish sixth out of 21 in the duet technical. Meanwhile, on the final day of competition on June 15, Rachel Thean scored 195.3688 to finish eighth out of 10 competitors in the women solo free while Singapore finished eighth out of nine teams in the team acrobatic event with a score of 144.2251. On the artistic swimmers' performance in the series, Goutseva said: 'Overall, we are very satisfied. There has been clear improvement from one world series to the next. After each competition, we make the necessary changes and modifications to our routines based on feedback from the judges and technical controllers. 'We had set specific goals for this year, and we can definitely see the progress here in Xi'an.' Ranked second only to the Olympics in prestige for water sports, the July 11-Aug 3 world championships will see over 2,500 athletes from more than 190 countries compete in six aquatic disciplines – swimming, water polo, diving, artistic swimming, open water swimming and high diving – across various venues in Singapore. As they make their final preparations ahead of the home showcase, Goutseva said: 'Singapore is committed to raising the level of artistic swimming, and while there is still a lot of work to be done, we are positive and motivated. Our focus is to push the team as far as we can and help them achieve their fullest potential on home soil.' Deepanraj Ganesan is a sports journalist at The Straits Times focusing on football, athletics, combat sports and policy-related news. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
