NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- As the final notes faded over the rippling water, 18-year-old Guo Muye completed the last movement alongside his teammates. China remained atop the standings, and a gold medal crowned the teenager's Asian Games debut.
"It is very exciting. After all, this is my first time competing at such a major continental multi-sport event," Guo said after helping China win the artistic swimming team title on Monday.
The youngest and only male athlete on China's artistic swimming team at the Games, Guo competed in all three team routines over three days: the strength and grace of "Soul of the Terracotta Warriors," the agile movements inspired by "Black Myth: Wukong" and the philosophical storytelling of a new routine themed around "Time."
"I think I performed at the level I should have. My condition was even a little better than in regular training," he said.
Guo began swimming at age four. He and his twin brother, Guo Muxi, were later spotted by the Beijing artistic swimming team, setting him on a new path in the water.
International competition accelerated Guo's development. In 2025, he won one gold and three silvers at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final before taking silver in the men's solo free at the World Championships in Singapore.
He joined China's senior national team in February and has since had to adapt to the demands of competing alongside more experienced teammates.
"My mindset has matured a lot, and my technique and ability have improved. But there is still a gap between me and the team's standards," Guo said. "I need to keep honing my skills and try to catch up with my older teammates."
Guo's emergence comes as men take on a growing role in artistic swimming. Male athletes were first allowed to compete in mixed duets at the World Championships in 2015, and World Aquatics later opened the Olympic team event to men, with up to two permitted on each team.
At the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, three of the five teams in the artistic swimming competition, China, Thailand and Kazakhstan, included male athletes.
China head coach Zhang Xiaohuan said the strength and explosiveness of male athletes can have a particular impact in lifts, difficult acrobatic elements and choreography.
But artistic swimming also demands flexibility, precision, synchronization and expressive ability, areas in which Guo acknowledges he still has room to improve.
"Flexibility training is difficult for me. I need to spend more time practicing," he said. "Train more and stretch my legs more."
As the youngest member of the team, Guo has also found support from his older teammates, who help him refine movements and adjust to new routines.
"After more than half a year of training together, he has become an inseparable part of the team," Zhang said. "Though he is the youngest, he has also become someone his older teammates can rely on."
With new routines and more difficult elements already on the training agenda, Guo is looking toward next year's World Championships, which will also serve as an Olympic qualifier.
Asked about his longer-term ambition, the teenager smiled shyly before giving a two-word answer.
"Olympic champion." ■
