World Aquatics Artistic Swimming WC 2024 to kick off in Beijing

About 100 elite artistic swimmers from 14 teams all over the world will compete in first leg of the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup 2024 at the National Aquatic Center (Water Cube) in Beijing, reported Xinhua.

The host nation will compete all of 11 events during the April 5-7 leg, but the top swimmers of its national team will only focus on the Team Free while the second-tier athletes feature in the other 10 events.

"There were some new changes to the rules recently. We need time to understand and rebuild our original routines. On the other hand, it is a great opportunity for our young swimmers to show off and to learn from other elite swimmers at the World Cup," said Zhang Xiaohuan, head coach of the Chinese national team.

China achieved its best-ever performance in artistic swimming, winning seven golds, one silver, and one bronze across 11 events at the Doha World Aquatics Championships two months ago.

"We are so delighted that the Artistic Swimming World Cup comes back to Beijing and we are so eager to express our passion and love of the sport to the Chinese fans. Our goal is clear. We'll try to display precision, clean movements and artistry in our routines," Zhang said.

Australia, which has already booked a spot for team events at the Paris Olympic Games, will perform in all three team events and challenge the host's team.

Nargiza Bolatova and Eduard Kim, who won first ever world title for Kazakhstan with a gold in the Mixed Duet Technical in Doha, are expected to defend their reputation in the Chinese capital city.

For the British women's pair, Eve Isobella Young and Florence Lily Blinkhorn, they were impressed by the Water Cube as soon as they saw a big Dragon mascot by the poolside.

"It's the year of Dragon. It looks like a great atmosphere where the Summer and Winter Olympics were held," the 17-year-old Young said.

The Water Cube has been converted into the Ice Cube during winter seasons ever since 2021. It was the venue for curling competitions during the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The Artistic Swimming World Cup 2024 series have four legs, including Beijing, Paris from May 3-5, Markham (Canada) from May 31-June 2 and Super Final in Budapest (Hungary) from July 5-7.