Chinese Olympians: Twin water ballet princesses Jiang Tingting and Wenwen

Wenwen and Tingting are hoping to win gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

The recent outstanding performance of China's synchronized swimming twins Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen, 20, has been heralded as the dawning of a new era in Chinese water ballet. The latest achievements of this energetic duo include a fourth place in the pairs technical routine at the aquatics world championships in Melbourne in March, and a long-awaited gold medal at the 2006 Doha Asian Games in December -- China's first top title in the sport.

Identical twins Ting and Wen were born in 1986 to a poor family in Sichuan province. The sisters first started taking swimming lessons at the age of nine in Chengdu. Initially, water as an element was not very inviting or comfortable for the girls. Ting even recalls how at first she refused to go into the pool and was eventually thrown in by her coach.