On July 20, at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, the Chinese artistic swimming team—comprising Chang Hao, Cheng Wentao, Dai Shiyi, Feng Yu, Li Xiuchen, Lin Yanhan, Xiang Binxuan, and Xu Huiyan—lived up to expectations and clinched the gold medal in the team free routine with a score of 348.4779 points. Japan and Spain took silver and bronze, respectively.

In the preliminary round held the day before, Team China ranked first with 338.2167 points. Performing 12th in the final, they retained their winning theme “Gravity” from the Paris Olympics and the 2025 World Cup Final. However, due to changes in the competition rules, the team made significant adjustments in choreography and difficulty. Despite the challenges, the athletes delivered a flawless performance.

After the competition, head coach Zhang Xiaohuan acknowledged the difficulty of changing three technical elements in a short period. “We consulted domestic experts and realized we needed to study the new rules more carefully in terms of difficulty. Some of our lifts didn’t score well at the World Cup Final. Although we beat Spain in the final, we lost 7 points on three technical elements—those moves had nearly one point less in difficulty. So we made corresponding changes to our routine for this championship,” Zhang said.

In addition to the challenge of replacing three technical moves within a month, the team also faced the unexpected injury of Zhang Yayi before the competition. Team captain Feng Yu stepped in and learned the entire routine in just eight days before taking the world stage. Remarkably, she and the rest of the team overcame all obstacles and delivered a high-quality final performance.

"High risk comes with high reward. If we hadn’t made those changes, we might not be standing on top of the podium today," Zhang added. "It's because of athletes like Feng Yu that the Chinese artistic swimming team can keep pushing forward no matter the difficulties."

This was Feng Yu’s first time participating in the team free routine event. She shared, “It was a truly special experience. I thought about this routine every day. Ever since the team made this decision, everyone supported and believed in me. I didn’t want to let anyone down.”

Veteran team member Chang Hao said she calmly accepted the technical changes when she first heard the news. “We had trained those new skills before, but everyone’s positions changed a bit, so we had to adapt. Now that we’ve won the team free routine title, I feel relieved. This routine marks our final appearance on the international stage, and we wanted to give it a perfect ending. I’m happy we made that happen.”