With golden headbands symbolizing the legendary Monkey King, China’s artistic swimming team captivated the audience with a stunning Wukong-inspired routine at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on Tuesday. Their powerful performance brought the myth to life and earned them a gold medal in the team technical event.
Scoring an impressive 307.8001 points, China edged out their longtime rivals, the Russian team competing under the name Neutral Athletes B (NAB), who finished second with 300.6183 points. Spain secured third place with 294.8575 points.
“This is a very special day,” said head coach Zhang Xiaohuan. “It’s the first time we’ve been able to directly compete against our biggest rivals on a stage like this. It’s a moment we’ve waited a long time for.”
She added, “This gold medal doesn’t feel any less important than the one we won at the Olympic Games in Paris. Our swimmers performed exceptionally well today. They improved on areas that needed work after the preliminary round, and with that, they earned this title.”
China had previously won both the duet and team titles at the Paris Games, where Russian athletes did not participate. Reflecting on their rivals, Zhang said, “They are still a very admirable opponent. They give us strong motivation to keep improving. We only narrowly won this time. We still have a long way to go.”
The victory provided a significant confidence boost for the Chinese team. Team captain Feng Yu expressed, “We’ve waited a long time to compete against a team we’ve always wanted to measure ourselves against. That makes this result even more special. It’s only when you face tough competition that you learn and improve.”
The Wukong routine has been a success since its debut at the Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, in June, where China delivered a dominant performance. For the World Championships, the coaching staff increased the routine’s difficulty level.
Earlier in the day, China’s Xu Huiyan earned a silver medal in the women’s solo free event, finishing behind Spain’s Iris Tio Casas. Just hours later, she returned to the pool for the team technical final. Xu made history in Singapore by winning China’s first-ever women’s solo technical gold medal at the World Championships.
“As a young athlete, Huiyan has progressed remarkably in just one year—from winning bronze in Doha to achieving what she has here in Singapore,” Zhang praised. “Our rival in the solo free delivered an outstanding routine today.”
The team technical gold marks China’s third gold in artistic swimming at the World Championships, showcasing their rising prowess on the world stage.
