All the effort paid off. China triumphed in the team free event with an impressive 348.4779 points, finishing 13.7547 points ahead of second-placed Japan.

It marked China's second artistic swimming gold at the Singapore worlds, following Xu Huiyan's win in the women's solo technical.

Although China retained the "Gravity" theme from its gold-winning performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, many technical elements were changed.

The coaching staff even revised all three acrobatic components after the Artistic Swimming World Cup Final in June.

As a result, the Chinese athletes had just over a month to rehearse the new routine ahead of the world championships.

"It felt different — a new kind of challenge. Our routine had major changes. The difficulty and lifts were completely redesigned," said the reigning Olympic champion.

"But I have confidence in our team. Since the Paris Olympics, we have been training and refining the routine together for a long time, and we can handle those adjustments."

Xinhua