Japan won a silver medal in the artistic swimming and team free routine at the World Swimming Championships being held in Qatar, Middle East, and earned a spot at the Paris Olympics. This is the team's 8th consecutive Olympic appearance.

On the 8th day of the World Swimming Championships being held in Doha, Qatar, the final of the free routine for teams of 8 in artistic swimming was held.



This competition also serves as a selection for the Paris Olympics, and the teams will be ranked in the top spot, excluding countries and regions that have already qualified, based on the total score of the finals of the three events: acrobatic routine, technical routine, and free routine. If you are in 5 teams, you will qualify.



Japan, who passed the preliminary round in 2nd place, performed a high jump at the beginning of the event, and then performed a chess-themed performance that used continuous footwork and sharp hand movements to dominate the board. I expressed moving pieces.



Japan swam without losing concentration until the end, marking 315.2229 and winning the silver medal. The gold medal went to China and the bronze medal went to America.



Japan fell behind in seventh place in the first event, but won the bronze medal in the technical routine, and with this silver medal, the total score of the three events was 4th overall, excluding China, who had already qualified. He became the runner-up and qualified for the Paris Olympics.



This is the eighth consecutive Olympic appearance for a Japanese team.

Captain Moe Yoshida “It was really good”

Moe Yoshida said, ``The moment I got the score, all I could say was, ``It was really good.'' Our goal is not here, but to win a medal at the Paris Olympics. We are working hard toward that goal. , I want to start over again.''



In addition, 16-year-old Moe Higa said with a smile, ``I'm really happy. We got off to a slow start at the start of this tournament, but I think we were able to switch things up and compete as a team.''

Mental response is effective

The Japanese artistic swimming team has qualified for the Olympic Games for the eighth consecutive time since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.



While the performance continued to be tense with no margin for error, the team's mental efforts paid off.



Artistic swimming underwent a major rule change last year, and like figure skating, the difficulty level is set for each skill, and it is now scored based on the performance of each skill.



Your score will not increase unless even one technique is certified, so the key is how accurately you can express the most difficult techniques.



Captain Moe Yoshida agrees, saying, ``With the new rules, there's a real sense of tension where there's no margin for error.''



Under these circumstances, the team focused on the importance of mental health and introduced mental training that is held once a month as a whole.



For about an hour and a half, experts were invited to discuss their opinions on topics such as pre-game preparations and on/off switching.



Head coach Takako Nakajima said, ``The players are now able to talk to each other about things like, ``This is what I think'' and ``I'm not confident in this area.'' We've become able to feel each other's thoughts, and our mental health has stabilized.'' He revealed his spiritual growth.



This strength was on display at this World Championship as well.



In the team's first event, an acrobatic routine, Japan was unable to improve their score as one technique was not certified, and they finished in 7th place.



Then, led by captain Yoshida, they had a discussion and said, ``If we lose emotionally, we won't be able to go with the flow. Let's all believe that the results will follow and be strong in our feelings,'' and the team changed their minds, and in the technical routine that followed. With his accurate performance, he made a comeback and won the bronze medal.



Continuing with that momentum, she achieved a high score with a well-balanced performance in her free routine, winning the silver medal and securing a spot at the Paris Olympics.



Yoshida talked about the team's unity, saying, ``We were slow at first, but we all changed our minds and were able to focus on what was in front of us one by one.I think that was the good thing about this time.''



We will further strengthen our unity and head to the stage in Paris to win the medal that we did not get at the Tokyo Olympics.