China claim two silvers in artistic swimming at World Aquatics Championships

China added two silver medals to its tally at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships on Monday, with 17-year-old Guo Muye placing second in the men's solo free routine and twin sisters Lin Yanhan and Lin Yanjun finishing runners-up in the women's duet technical final.

Lin Yanhan/Lin Yanjun of China perform during the women's duet technical final of artistic swimming at the World Aquatic Championships in Singapore, July 21, 2025. (Xinhua/Xia Yifang)

In the preliminaries, the Lin sisters had ranked second overall with a score of 301.0933 points, securing their place in the 12-pair final.

Performing a routine themed "Warriors of moon shadow", Lin Yanhan and Lin Yanjun earned 301.4057 points for the silver, finishing behind Austrian sisters Anna-Maria and Eirini-Marina Alexandri. The bronze medal went to neutral athletes Mayya Doroshko and Tatiana Gayday.

"I think both the Austrian team and the neutral athletes delivered performances that are truly worth learning from," Lin Yanhan said. "We went back and watched their videos after the preliminary round, and it was clear there's still a significant gap between us. We know we have a lot of room for improvement."

Earlier on Monday, Guo, who had finished fourth in his men's solo technical final last Saturday, delivered a strong performance in the men's solo free routine to secure the silver medal with 220.1926 points. The gold went to Aleksandr Maltsev, who tallied 229.5613 points, while Italy's Filippo Pelati took bronze with 213.9850.

"I feel quite happy about winning this medal," Guo said. "But this is not yet a gold, so I still have much to work on. I need to improve the height and lines of my routines, as well as my eye contact and interaction with the judges."