Men's Solo Technical Routine at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Cup in Egypt: China's 16-year-old athlete Guo Muyi wins gold.

On April 11, the second stop of the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup kicked off in Egypt, with China fielding its second-tier team primarily to give young athletes valuable experience.

The 2025 World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup kicked off on February 28 in Paris, with Egypt hosting the second stop. The three-day event will feature 11 exciting competitions. Top global artistic swimming teams, including Spain, Japan, and Ukraine, will be competing in this leg of the series.

The Chinese team has entered six events: Fan Jun will compete in the women’s individual technical routine, Liu Jinhuan and Zhang Wanyi will take part in the women’s duet technical routine, Guo Muyi will compete in both the men’s individual technical and free routines, Guo Sitong and Shi Haoyue will join forces for the mixed duet technical routine, while Fan Jun, Guo Muyi, Guo Sitong, He Zhien, Liu Jinhuan, Shi Haoyue, Zhang Wanyi, and Zhang Xiaoyou will team up to vie in the group acrobatic routine.

Over the past two years, the rules for synchronized swimming competitions have been constantly "evolving." Following the Paris Olympics, the regulations were revised once again, introducing new adjustments to the scoring system for both movement difficulty and routine composition. As a result, teams are now in the exploratory and experimental phase as they adapt to these changes.

"Our goal is to develop new talent by getting them involved in more competitions and helping them gain valuable match experience," said Zhang Xiaohuan, head coach of the Chinese synchronized swimming team.

On the 12th, Guo Mu also delivered an outstanding performance in the men's individual technical routine, clinching the championship. That day, Guo Mu showcased a seamless and fluid overall display, with bold, graceful, and powerfully executed movements. In the end, he earned a score of 224.5450 points—nearly 14 points higher than his previous performance at the French leg—and secured the gold medal with a noticeable improvement.

Following the Egypt stop, the World Cup of synchronized swimming will continue with another event in Canada from May 1 to 3, before culminating in the finals held at the Xi'an Olympic Sports Center Swimming and Diving Arena from June 13 to 15.

Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Xin

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