Kou Chin, at the age of 21 this year, is studying at the University of Macau. Having been engaging in synchronized swimming for 12 years, she has participated in international events such as the Asian Championships, World Championships, and the Asian Games on behalf of the Macao team. 

    Kou Chin has been fascinated with sports since she was small. She has learned dancing and gymnastics. At the age of 9, she participated in a synchronized swimming interest class, and she kept on doing synchronized swimming until today since the first time she engaged in it. Kou Chin recalled that when she started learning synchronized swimming, she thought that it was not that easy to get injured and thus it was safer than gymnastics and dancing. Furthermore, she thought that it was fun to practice sports in water. The main reason why she persisted in doing synchronized swimming all along was her teammates. She said that most of her teammates participated in training with her since they were small, and since synchronized swimming is a type of collective sports, the tacit understanding among teammates is very important. It was seldom the case that all members attended the daily training.

    Hence, the tacit understanding and intimate friendships among teammates are important factors which help maintain the best condition and level of the team. In daily training and competitions, their most common saying is “Let's cherish the love among teammates”, of which the “love among teammates” represents the mutual help and mutual care amongst teammates, which eventually improved their friendships and tacit understanding.

    Kou Chin, who is mainly responsible for performing the lifting motion in the team, thinks that in her memory the most unforgettable competition in her synchronized swimming career is the Asian Championships hosted in Japan in November 2016. At that time, Kou Chin, together with her partner, had to perform a set of pair free-styled motions that were fast-paced and included a lot of motions, but they had not had much time for practice. When they succeeded in performing the whole performance, they hugged and cried together excitedly.

    As a senior member in the team, Kou Chin had something to say to her juniors in the synchronized swimming team. “Since there is less time for training and many team members are still studying in high school, it is difficult to strike a balance between synchronized swimming and schoolwork. I hope that everyone can strive to practice as much as possible within limited training time, concentrate on the training during sessions, and study hard when doing schoolwork.”