Russia's synchro dynasty in peril

Golden success in the pool faces threats from US and China

For years they have been the queens of the pool, but now Russia's synchronized swimming stars are having to get used to something new - a fight for the gold.

So far this century, only Russians have won Olympic gold in synchronized swimming. In the absence of any real rival, they took to measuring success and failure not by the finishing position - it was almost always first at every competition - but by the size of the gap over second place.