At the swimming pool of the Guangdong Ersha Sports Training Center on Aug. 14, Nanshan’s artistic swimming twin sisters Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi were seen gracefully moving through the water as they trained intensively for the upcoming 15th National Games.

The sisters will focus on the duet competition at this year’s National Games, benefiting from years of rapport with their coach that has made their training more efficient. It is learnt that their duet performance will maintain the “Lotus” and “Leopard” themes from last year’s Paris Olympics, but with significant new variations. Wang Qianyi explained that new regulations have given them greater creative space, leading to substantial changes in the overall content of their performance. They hope to present a better, more interesting, and innovative work at the competition.

Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi won the gold medal in the duet artisitic swimming event at the Paris Olympics. Xinhua

At last year’s Paris Olympics, Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi made history twice by winning gold medals in both the team and duet artistic swimming events, marking historic breakthroughs for China’s artistic swimming team in both competitions. The upcoming 15th National Games will be the fourth National Games the sisters have participated in. In the previous three National Games, they have won gold, silver, and bronze medals in artistic swimming events.

According to the schedule, the artistic swimming qualification competition for the 15th National Games will be held in Qingdao, Shandong Province this September. The main artistic swimming events will take place from Nov. 13-15 at the swimming venue of Jiangmen Sports Center in Guangdong Province.