AP – China took gold in the artistic swimming team event yesterday at the Paris Olympics, with the United States (US) getting silver and Spain taking bronze.
China finished with 996.1389 points, ahead of the Americans’ 914.3421 and Spain’s 900.7319. It was the first US medal in the sport since 2004.
It was a big medal for China, and also a step forward for the sport, which changed its name from synchronised swimming several years ago to update its image. Some swimmers still call it “synchro”.
“There is attention to the sport that has never happened before,” said Adam Andrasko, who heads USA Artistic Swimming. “This is an absolutely different sport.”
The smiles, the make-up and hair gelatin remain, but this is no longer the water ballet beneath flowery rubber caps that your grandparents watched.
“It’s so worth it, I can hardly believe it,” American Megumi Field said, her silver medal around her neck. “Now we have a silver medal. What happened. I’m so excited.”
Teammate Jacklyn Luu was quick to salute the Chinese.
“Their execution is just out of this world,” Luu said. “When you see them swim they are like machines out there. So clean. We wanted to put some of that into our swims.”
