The Duet competition often sees twins, or in the case of Austria triplet sisters, participating. There seems to be an edge that identical sisters have when competing as duet partners. However, the results today at the Hajos Alfred Swimming Complex on Margaret Island was a first, with only twin and triplet sisters taking home the medals.

After finishing second in the last five FINA World Championships, China's pair Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi clinched the first gold medal for China in Budapest. During the routine “Gamers” swum to the song “Naval Commandos” by Elliott Leung, the 25-year-old twins, showcased difficult hybrids and very rapid leg movements throughout the choreography which earned them 93.7536 points.

“It is a great honour to stand on the top of the podium at a World Championships. We think that Budapest is our lucky place, we really love to be here and we are really happy right now. We were satisfied with our performance and luckily the judges also appreciated our unique routine.”

In a very close race that was not decided until the very end of the competition, Ukraine's Aleksiiva sisters, Maryna and Vladyslava claimed the silver with 91.8617 points. Winner of the bronze medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, this the first silver medal for Ukraine in the Duet Technical event. The relevant “Royal Blood” routine the Aleksiiva twins performed was an emotional exhibition of the Ukrainian situation and their desire to return home.

“Despite we did not manage to win the gold medal we are really satisfied with the silver as this was our first senior World Championships. We tried to do our best and today it was worth a silver medal. We would like to dedicate this result to our strong country, Ukraine.”

Another first happened for the Austrian pair of triplet sisters, Anna-Maria Alexandri and Eirini Alexandri who won the first World Championship medal for Austria in Artistic Swimming. The Alexandri sisters performed their “Warriors” choreography to music by the same composer as the Chinese duet, Elliott Leung, to score 91.2622 points for the bronze medal.

“We are so relieved and empty, we can’t think of anything right now. We are so happy and it is a dream that came true. We came here and knew it was going to be difficult. We never expected this, only dreamt about it.”

The finalists for the Team Technical event, which will be contested on Tuesday June 21, were determined today in the preliminary round. After having finished in second place at the last three FINA World Championships, the team representing China leads the way to the gold medal after the preliminary round. Japan, with one silver and two bronze medals at previous editions of the FINA World Championships follows right behind. However, the podium on Tuesday could feature the teams from Italy, France, United States or Greece, none of which have won a medal in this event at the World Championships.

The program for Monday June 20th includes the preliminary round for the Solo Free event and the Mixed Duet Technical and Free Combination events. Full results of the Championships can be found here as well as information for the live broadcasts.