Beijing: Russia, with a perfect 50 points from their free routine, added team gold to their duet title Saturday to complete a sweep of the synchronised swimming titles at the Beijing Olympics.
Showing no sign of complacency, despite their lead after the technical routine, Russia displayed the precision and power that have seen them dominate the sport in recent years.
For the third Games in a row, Russia claimed both the duet and team titles, with Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova repeating their Athens duet crown then joining with Maria Gromova, Natalia Ischenko, Elvira Khasyanova, Olga Kuzhela, Svetlana Romashina and Anna Shorina to triumph in the team.
"We were striving for it together, to be higher than everybody. It was really difficult, but we are all really happy," said Russian coach Tatyana Pokrovskaya.
As in the duet, Spain took silver, and Andrea Fuentes admitted that with the Russians in the picture, they didn't expect anything better.
"We're kind of used to this," said Fuentes, who had teamed with Gemma Mengual to take silver in the duet. "Our real objective was silver, and here we are."
China, to the delight of fans at the Water Cube, captured the bronze as Japan were shut out of the medals in an Olympic synchro event for the first time.
China's Zhang Xiaohuan, likely competing in her last international event, was thrilled to contribute to her country's first Olympic medal in the sport.
"It's a competition that I will never forget through my life," she said.
"I felt moved. Since I'm older than other swimmers in our team, sometimes I think about giving up. But I decided to keep going because this is the Olympics that China has been waiting for for a 100 years."
Zhang paid tribute to the team's Japanese adviser, Masayo Imura.
"She's an excellent coach," Zhang said. "She's very strict. I like her very much. She'll go back to Japan after the Olympics, but her spirit will influence my whole life."
Japan, bronze medallists in duet, started strong in their routine featuring fast-paced leg-work and silky transitions.
But they tired late, and Hiromi Kobayashi actually blacked out and had to be helped from the pool, the result of hyperventillating according to a team spokesman.
"What happened to her was too much breathing, apparently," Hiroshi Takeuchi said.
"This kind of thing has happened before. She is a very nervous athlete. She is back to consciousness. She is sitting up on the bed," he said.
"During the last part of the routine, the team became exhausted," said Japanese coach Masako Kaneko. "The last part was the climax, but it went wrong."
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