China Thrives on First Day of World Swimming Championships with Synchronized Swimming and Diving Success
The 2024 Doha World Swimming Championships commenced on February 2 with a colorful debut for the Chinese team in synchronized swimming and diving. The Chinese team is set to compete in swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, open water swimming, and water polo events.
The synchronized swimming team made a strong start on the first day of the competition, with Xu Huiyan ranking fourth in the women’s single skill preliminaries and Yang Shuncheng claiming the top spot in the men’s single technical optional preliminaries. This marks the first time that the Chinese synchronized swimming team has participated in the single event at the World Championships, with Yang Shuncheng also becoming the first male synchronized swimming competitor from China at the Championships.
Sisters Wang Qianyi and Wang Liuyi, who previously won a silver medal at the 2023 World Championships, led the charge in the women’s technical double technical preliminaries, temporarily ranking first with 269.8883 points.
The Chinese diving team also made its presence felt on the first day, securing two gold medals in the women’s 1-meter springboard, mixed team 3-meter springboard, and 10-meter platform events.
Looking ahead, the diving event will see the men’s 1-meter springboard preliminaries and the mixed 10-meter platform finals, with young talent Huang Jianjie, the youngest member of the Chinese diving team, seeking success in the mixed 10-meter platform competition.
Additionally, the synchronized swimming and open water events will continue with Cheng Wentao/Shi Haoxuan partnering up in the mixed doubles technical free-selected preliminaries, and Chinese players Xin Xin and Mao Yihan competing in the women’s 10-kilometer open water competition. The stakes are high, as the top 13 finishers in the Fukuoka and Doha World Championships will secure spots at the Paris Olympics.
As the competition heats up, the Chinese team is poised for further success in the upcoming days of the World Swimming Championships.