Very best of enemies come together in the pool

Despite the continual talk of the intense hostility between them, Chinese and Japanese swimmers believe the rivalry is a positive motivational factor and will help improve the sport in both countries.

From Sun Yang losing the 200m freestyle gold to Japan's Kosuke Hagino on Day 1 to China stunning Japan in the men's 4x100m medley on Day 6, the competition between the two nations' swimmers dominated talk around the pool throughout the six-day meet in Incheon.

China eventually outperformed Japan in the pool with a total haul of 22 gold over Japan's 12 but it still fell behind in the men's competition, in which Japan enjoyed a thin 8-7 edge in golds.