By Sportswriter Yue Dongxing
SHANGHAI, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese synchronized swimmers are confident to go higher since the host team recorded its best ever results in the 14th FINA World Championships in Shanghai.
With six silver and one bronze medals, China showed their strength in the seven-discipline competitions which ended on July 23, bettering their performances in the last world championships in 2009.
"We still need to improve and try to perform better at London Olympics than in Beijing," said Yu Li, the national team official.
Yu's opinions were echoed by China's Japanese coach Masayo Imura, who led the upward team to their first Olympic synchronized swimming medal (bronze) in 2008.
"There is still room for improvement. As for London, we still need to improve," said the 61-year-old Imura, who was hailed "godmother of synchro" in Japan. She started coaching her country's team in 1978, helping them grab eight Olympic medals over the past 30 years.
The Olympic synchronized swimming features two disciplines - duet and team.
In the duet event, the twin sisters Jiang Wenwen/Jiang Tingting, who finished fourth at Beijing Olympics, have potential to get medals in London.
The 24-year-old sisters, two-time Asiad champions, grabbed the first ever gold for China in the World Cup series last year in the southeastern Chinese city of Changshu. They were regarded as the promising pair for the national team to end gold medal drought in the world championships.
But in Shanghai, they lost to the Russian defending champions Natalia Ishchenko/Svetlana Romashina, finishing second in the free duets final.
However, their coach Zheng Jia said the twins still had space to improve on and could hit the peak in London.
"After the championships ended, we will go to prepare for London Games. They will adopt a new routine, which is more demanding. Of course, they will be more competitive and can improve a lot in the following year," said the Chinese coach.
While in the team event, China, who reaped two silver medals in this championships, had the strength to better their third-place finish, the best in Olympics.
"From this championships, we are now the second best team in the world after Russia. We will try to narrow the gap and fight for better result in London Olympics," said Yu.
Masayo Imura has played a major role in making China a top synchronized swimming nation. With her instruction, Chinese swimmers have improved markedly in strength, technique and speed, and gradually won recognition from international judges.
