Xu Huiyan shines at Aquatics Worlds, eyes Olympic future

At just 19 years old, Xu Huiyan has already emerged as one of China's brightest stars in artistic swimming.

At the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, she delivered a standout performance, earning three gold medals and one silver - including China's first-ever world title in the women's solo technical event.

Ahead of the championships, Xu's momentum had sparked speculation from World Aquatics about how many golds she might claim in Singapore. The answer, so far, is remarkable.

Xu Huiyan in action during the women's solo technical preliminary at the 2025 World Aquatic Championships. (Xinhua/Then Chih Wey)

Xu has competed in nine events over seven days, including preliminary rounds - a grueling schedule by any standard. Despite the demanding timeline, she continued to contribute to her team while excelling individually.

She helped China capture two gold medals in team events and also added a silver in the women's solo free. On Thursday morning, she competed in the team acrobatic preliminaries, helping China secure the top spot heading into the final.

Reflecting on her solo technical gold, Xu said: "It feels pretty emotional, because something I hoped for but hadn't dared to think about before is now a reality before me."

Still, she sees room to improve. "In the solo free event, there are still things I can improve on, whether it's in terms of completion or connectivity."

Xu said competing in team events actually enhances her solo performances.

"Doing the team event helped me feel freer, move more freely," she explained. "The depth of the field in the team event isn't that much different from the solo event, so doing that did help."

However, head coach Zhang Xiaohuan noted that some compromises were made to prioritize team success.

"In fact, the preparation and training for the solo events were geared toward supporting the team events," Zhang said. "Sacrifices were made in the solo competitions. Coach Tu Jun and Xu worked very well together, utilizing their spare time for solo training."

Even on days with back-to-back finals, Xu delivered high-caliber performances. Zhang praised her leadership and dedication.

"She takes the initiative on everything - from the music selection to the choreography and artistic impression... she does all of that," Zhang said. "I'm very glad we've found an excellent swimmer to help the Chinese team."

Xu's rise has been rapid. She debuted at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, earning bronze in the solo technical and placing fourth in the solo free. Two months later, she claimed three golds at the Artistic Swimming World Cup in Beijing, sweeping both solo events and the team technical.

Her success continued at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming Junior Championships in Peru last August, where she won gold in the solo technical, team free, and team technical events.

In 2025, her winning streak showed no signs of slowing. She secured individual titles at the World Cup in Canada in May, and then at the Super Final in Xi'an in June, she took home five gold medals from six events.

"The past year has been a grueling one in training for me. It's been a lot of growth," Xu said.

"I needed to work on my artistic impression - that was something I was lacking last year. My growth is completely linked to my team and my coaches. I get a lot of support from so many people who work behind the scenes."

"Competing in more events also means I got more opportunities to test myself," she added.

Coach Zhang highlighted the magnitude of her progress.

"As a young athlete, Xu went from a bronze and a fourth place in Doha to the achievements she's already had here in Singapore - all within just a year," Zhang said. "She is only 19 years old and has already achieved a breakthrough here, doing something we've never achieved before. She's already made one of our dreams come true."

Looking ahead, Zhang sees even greater potential.

"As one of China's top artistic swimmers, Xu 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."

For Xu, there's still much to strive for. This is only her second World Championships, and she has her sights set on the Olympic Games.

"I still need to work harder on my path of growth," she said.

Xu will compete in her 10th and final event of the competition - the team acrobatic final - on Friday.