Chinese synchronized swimmers claim history-making gold at FINA

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China won their first ever gold medal in synchronized swimming at the FINA World Championships, with a win in the Team Free Combination event on Saturday.

Synchronized swimming powerhouse Russia were absent from the matchup in Budapest. The Chinese team snatched 96.1000 points to write a new chapter in the sport.

Ukraine ranked second with 94.0000 points. The bronze medal went to Japan, who finished with a score of 93.2000.

After the National Games in May, the athletes from seven provinces and municipalities were recruited into the national team and trained for two months before games in Budapest.

"I'm quite happy about the gold medal, because it's not easy for us to do it," said Tang Mengni. "The time for our preparation was a little short after the National Games."

Finishing atop the ranking in the preliminary, the Chinese team just kept a cool mind before finally reaching their memorable achievement.

"We slept quite well before the final. We have our own goals, but we don't want to give ourselves too much pressure for realizing our goals. We just want to be our best selves," commented Tang.

"They finished the whole program very well, and I'm satisfied with what they did today," China coach Wang Jie said. "In recent years, the Chinese synchronized swimming has been among the world's best.

"We feel that we lag behind Russia in the world rankings at this time, and they still have much competitiveness."

China has won a total of five synchronized swimming medals so far in Budapest -- three in team events and two in duet events.

(Source: Xinhua)

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