Russia seals synchronized swimming medals sweep

BEIJING (Reuters) - Russia sealed its third sweep of synchronized swimming medals on Saturday with a near flawless free routine, but the crowd's loudest cheers were for the Chinese team that made the host nation's first medal splash in the sport.

The home swimmers managed to ignore a crowd so enthusiastic they sometimes nearly drowned out the music the bronze-medalists were swimming to, a Chinese piece named "The Yellow River".

Russia won a clutch of perfect 10s for both the technical and artistic aspects of its routine in the team final. Spain took silver with a routine that included one swimmer rising above the water with hands and feet resting on the heads of four others. The event was overshadowed, however, by the collapse of one of the Japanese swimmers, who after her routine had to be swum to the edge, lifted out of the pool and carried off on a stretcher.

Team officials said later she had suffered breathing difficulties but was conscious and now recovering.

Russia has dominated synchronized swimming since the 1997 World Cup, when it ended the hegemony of the United States and Canada.

(Editing by Alex Richardson)