" Sisters " aim at first Olympic medal, Japanese team is the biggest rival

In yesterday's preliminary competition for the duet free routine event in synchronized swimming, the Chinese sisters Jiang Wenwen and Jiang Tingting, dressed in beautiful swimsuits with a white background and peacock feather pattern, became two stunning "peacocks." Their flawless performance earned them fourth place in the preliminaries, successfully advancing them to today's afternoon final.

Since synchronized swimming was introduced into the Olympics in 1984, Chinese athletes have never won a medal. In the previous Athens Olympics, Gu Beibei and Zhang Xiaohuan from China placed seventh in the duet event.

World-renowned coach choreographs routines

"Today we performed better than yesterday, adding some new elements in the initial stage, such as simultaneous rotations in different directions, etc. These actions require good coordination and synchronization; otherwise, it's easy to make mistakes. Fortunately, we completed them all," said the sisters who were still troubled by the minor mistake they made in the technical duet routine preliminary competition the day before.

Standing next to the two young girls was Masae Ito, the head coach of the Chinese synchronized swimming team, known as the "Japanese Mother of Synchronized Swimming." The music used in yesterday's competition, "Leap," was specially choreographed for the Olympics by this world-renowned coach. Watching her students' brilliant performances, Ito gave a high score of 93 points: "They did well, showcasing their own unique style, which is different from other girls, very distinctive. So I also want to support them by giving a high score."

The Japanese team is the biggest rival

In the upcoming final, if the Chinese synchronized swimming team wants to make history and win its first Olympic synchronized swimming medal, the old home team of Ito, the Japanese team, will be the biggest competitor. After two rounds of preliminaries, the Japanese team ranked third, just ahead of the Chinese team. However, Ito still looks forward to Jiang Wenwen and Jiang Tingting's performance in the finals: "The Chinese team will surely achieve good results at home. I think inviting a Japanese person to serve as head coach is a big decision, and I hope to meet their expectations."