China leads team acrobatic as artistic swimming starts

PARIS - With the theme Passion and Speed, China took the lead in the team acrobatic event on the first competition day of artistic swimming at Paris 2024 here on Monday.

Among the ten teams, China, who had swept five of six gold medals in team events over the past two World Championships, tried to balance the difficulty lifts with different leg movements and elegance, leading with 313.5538 points.

"We made some changes based on our previous routine with higher difficulty. It was a challenge and we tried hard to express all of our passion in the routine. We felt confident only after we confirmed our scores," said Wang Liuyi.

To head coach Zhang Xiaohuan, the packed arena was a source of great excitement. "We felt motivated by the great support from the fans. We tried to include some Chinese cultural elements into our routine, such as the posture we showed on the stage with Yong Chun Quan [kung fu]," Zhang said.

Spain finished the day second in 287.1475, with Japan and United States third and fourth with 284.9017 and 282.7567 points, respectively.

In Paris, the team competition consists of a single finals phase with all ten teams of eight swimmers performing three routines, including team technical, team free and team acrobatic, across three nights from August 5 to 7. The final result, and the basis for medals being awarded, is the sum of points from all three team routines.