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Russia are shaping up for an impressive feat of their own in the often ridiculed synchronised swimming.

In a discipline characterised by smiles, nose clips and elaborate swimsuits, the Russians are chasing a clean sweep of the golds for a third successive Games in Beijing.

They have dominated synchro over the last eight years with near-perfect performances at the Olympics and the last four world championships.

What makes Russia's supremacy most impressive is that they got off the mark at Olympic level only in Sydney in 2000 after failing to pick up medals in any of the previous four Games.

Russia made wholesale changes between their 2000 and 2004 wins and just two of the 10 winning swimmers kept their places.

The two Anastasias, Ermakova and Davydova, lead the Russian charge for a hat-trick of golds in the duet. Their biggest rivals are likely to be Japan, runners up in both team and duet at the last two Games and bronze medallists in 1996.

However, these perennial bridesmaids face a tough challenge from Spain who showed their steady improvement at last year's world championships in Melbourne where they picked up silver medals in four of the seven events.

Synchronised swimming has been contested at Olympic level since 1984 although the format has changed, with the solo event ditched in 1992 in favour of the 10-swimmer team contest.

Judges award marks out of 10, based on execution, synchronization and difficulty.

The 24 pairs competing in the duets must perform a technical routine and a free routine to qualify for the final, where they must perform another free routine, with the highest points winning the gold.

The eight countries in the team competition -- Russia, Canada, Australia, China, Egypt, Spain, Japan and the United States -- have no preliminary rounds and perform both the free and technical routines..

Reuters