China Shines in Artistic Swimming and Water Polo at World Aquatics Championships

The 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore began with artistic swimming events on Friday. China's Xu Huiyan took the lead in the women's solo technical preliminaries, while the twin sisters Lin Yanhan and Lin Yanjun secured second place in the duet technical competition.

Xu, aged 19, achieved the top score of 265.8984 points, outperforming 35 other swimmers. Vasilina Khandoshka, competing as a neutral international athlete, placed second, followed by Iris Tio Casas of Spain in third.

Xu described her performance as stable, noting some pre-performance nerves due to the water temperature. She had previously won five gold medals at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final in Xi'an. She also mentioned that she had increased the difficulty of her routine.

Xu is considered a favorite for the final, which will take place on Saturday. She expressed both motivation and pressure, emphasizing her goal to perform her best and showcase her training. She approaches each routine individually.

In the women's duet technical event, the Lin sisters, despite some minor errors, earned second place with a score of 301.0933. The Alexandri sisters from Austria, Anna-Maria and Eirini-Marina, took the lead with a score of 305.1684. Lin Yanhan acknowledged their mistakes and the nerves associated with their first World Championships. The women's duet technical final is set for Monday.

In other events, China's men's water polo team defeated Singapore with a score of 21-8 in the 13-16th Classification pool.