Asian Games | China claims sixth straight artistic swimming duet title

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's Lin Yanjun and Xu Huiyan claimed the artistic swimming duet title at the 2026 Asian Games on Sunday, extending China's winning streak in the event to six consecutive Games.

Photo: Xinhua

The pair scored 322.8468 points in the free routine at the Hamamatsu City General Swimming Center in Shizuoka Prefecture, bringing their total to 640.3576 and securing gold by a comfortable margin.

Lin and Xu had topped Saturday's technical routine with 317.5108 points for their performance titled "Warriors of Moon Shadow," inspired by the animated film "Kung Fu Panda."

Performing fourth in Sunday's free routine, Lin and Xu opened with two consecutive lifts in their "Dunhuang Reflected in Water" routine and maintained tight transitions and precise synchronization throughout.

Japan's Moe Higa and Tomoka Sato took silver with 601.5566 points, while Kazakhstan's Nargiza Bolatova and Yasmin Tuyakova took bronze.

For both Lin and Xu, it was their first Asian Games appearance and their first gold medal at a major multisport event.

"It feels a little unreal. I didn't dare imagine it," Xu said after the competition.

"This is my first major multisport event, and I'm extremely excited and honored to represent my country in the national team jersey," Lin said.

The pair began competing together in May 2025 and have made rapid progress since, winning several international competitions.

Xu said they initially needed time to adapt to each other's styles.

"When we first became partners, our habits in applying force and our movement rhythms were quite different, so we were not yet in sync," she said. "Through one competition after another, we gradually became familiar with each other's movements, technical characteristics and competition habits, and kept making adjustments. Now our synchronization and the stability of our lifts have improved significantly."

China's artistic swimming team trained for 10 to 12 hours a day on three or four days each week in preparation for the Asian Games.

"We have always hoped to polish every part of our routines to perfection," Xu said, adding that the pair's score had exceeded their expectations.

"The free routine today was their best performance in the duet event," China head coach Zhang Xiaohuan said. "The overall execution was extremely high, with every technical detail clearly delivered and precisely placed. Their coordination was highly synchronized, while their water level control and leg movements were of the highest standard."

"We also hope China can continue to maintain strong competitiveness in the duet event on the international stage," Zhang added.

China also led the team technical routine on Sunday with 312.1990 points after finishing first in the team acrobatic routine.

The team competition concludes with the free routine on Monday, when the gold medal will be decided.