China dominates 1st day of World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup 2025 Super Final

China's emerging artistic swimming talents displayed encouraging form at the FINA World Cup Super Final in Xi'an, as the home team pocketed three golds out of four on offer and one silver on the first competition day here on Friday.

The Chinese team, featuring four reigning Paris Olympic champions alongside four young talents, delivered a highly impressive choreographed routine inspired by the acclaimed Black Myth: Wukong video game, blending Chinese mythology with world-class artistic swimming techniques. Their performance earned 277.2258 points to win the gold.

According to Zhang Xiaohuan, head coach of the Chinese team, the routine has a strong cultural atmosphere and some grandeur of the Qin Dynasty.

"We are paying our respect to our home ground," she said.

"I'd rate us an 8/10," said Chang Hao, a veteran artistic swimmer. "We're currently in a transition period with veteran and new athletes working together, so there are inevitably still some (team integration) and coordination issues to work through. That's why we need more time to repeatedly refine our teamwork before we can perform at our best. But honestly, after these 7 months of intensive closed-door training, we've already shown significant improvement compared to before."

Spain came in second with 276.1408 while Japan took third in 262.5166.

"We will try to make our elements go upon difficulty if we can. And I think the most important part for us is to be number one in artistic (impression), and I think we can do it. That's our goal," said Paula Ramirez Ibanez. "We loved the Chinese routine. We were amazed. They are so good and also we think it's super artistic."

Teenage pair Xu Huiyan and Lin Yanjun showed significant improvement in their three-week-old partnership. The duo delivered a technically sound performance in the women's duet technical. Their "Moon Shadow Dancer" themed routine scored 289.6150 points to win the gold medal, edging Japanese duo Moe Higa/Tomoka Sato to second place with 281.4309.

Spaniard's Txell Ferre Gaset and Lilou Lluis Valette, who placed first in World Cup series Paris stop and second in Markham stop in the discipline, came third with 277.8705.

"Considering we've only been training together for three weeks, I think we've made significant progress. But if you're asking whether we could do better - absolutely. To be honest, I'm not completely satisfied with our synchronization today - that's definitely an area that needs work," said Xu, who was Doha 2024 world championship bronze medallist.

"Compared to when I partnered with my sister Lin Yanhan, Huiyan is technically more accomplished. Working with her gives me greater stability - I can focus on refining my own movements while synchronizing with her rhythm," said Lin Yanjun.

Xu also won the women's solo tech title earlier on Friday with a score of 258.7933.

"As one of China's top solo artistic swimmers, Xu Huiyan can still elevate her performance-particularly in achieving more fluid extensions and refining the delicate precision of her leg movements. She has the potential to be even better," commented Zhang after the competition.

Also on Friday, China's 17-year-old Guo Muye took a silver in the men's solo technical with 224.0400. The gold medal went to Mexican Diego Villalobos Carrillo, who scored 225.0841 with an emotional routine.

"There were several areas that fell short of expectations, particularly in artistic expression and the first compulsory element," said Guo. "I felt quite nervous-the pressure was greater here at the Super Final, especially competing on home soil."

The Super Final continues on Saturday with four disciplines, men's solo free, duet solo free, mixed duet technical and team free in what is the conclusion of the 2025 Artistic Swimming World Cup series.