I want to cherish each and every day as I build up my underwater performance with my fellow swimmers.

While many athletes quit when they entered university, I chose to continue. I am happy that I am getting good results. However, I never thought I would be able to achieve such good results, so I honestly don't feel that I have achieved anything yet.

Starting with the Japan Championships, Kono will go on to international competitions.

Synchronized swimming is an underwater performance set to music, with a technical routine lasting around 2 minutes and 20 seconds to measure technical perfection and synchronization, and a free routine lasting around 3 minutes to measure free expression, for a total of points. There are four events for different numbers of swimmers: solo (1 swimmer), duet (2 swimmers), team (8 swimmers), and combination (10 swimmers).

Starting with the Japan Championships in May this year, she won the Spain Open in June and the Japan Synchronized Challenge Cup in August. In the second round of the preliminary selection for the 2016 Rio Olympics held in October of this year, she was ranked 11th, just behind the 10 athletes who competed in the previous Olympics, and some media reported that she was expected to make the Rio Olympics team.

The first step was the Japan Championships in May. My performance was recognized, and I was able to participate in the Spanish Open and the Rio Olympics qualifying rounds. I feel like I was able to ride a good wave of success. I have been competing in the Japan Championships since junior high school with my partner, with whom I have been paired in duet competitions since we were in elementary school, and we have been working hard to win a prize. Even though we represent Japan, we belong to the B Team, a team that participates in international competitions in which the A Team, which competes in the Olympics, does not compete, but we were able to place third among the A Team competitors.

The theme of this season's duet free routine is "robot. The previous season's theme was 'harmony,' so I wanted to make it comical this time. Duet event is regarded as an individual event in Synchronized skating, and since the number of skaters is small, even the smallest individual technique is closely watched. I am not good at sharp movements such as quick posing and staying in place, but I am good at fast movements like fluttering. I try to make the most of it by incorporating it into the middle part of the song, when the music gets more exciting.

• At the Japan Championships in May (photo at left). In addition to duet, she competed in two other events, contributing to 2nd place in combination and 2nd place in team [left].
• At the 14th World Junior Championships in Helsinki, Finland, where she won gold in free combination last year (middle row, right). Kono also competed in the team event and took second place [center photo].
• Between training sessions, she enjoys visiting sweets stores with friends (middle photo) and watching movies (right photo).

The process of building up with friends has been a fulfilling experience.

She began synchronized dancing in the first grade of elementary school. I started taking swimming lessons at the age of two under the influence of my mother, and it happened to be one of the few schools in Japan that offered synchronized swimming at the same time as the Aqualab Chofu. I chose synchronized swimming because of the success of the Japanese team in winning medals in the Olympics at that time.

He practices six times a week, three hours on weekdays and eight hours on weekends. Three hours on weekdays and eight hours on weekends. After muscle training and stretching in the studio, they swim competitively and do basic exercises such as vertical posture before choreographing to music.

She says, "Practice is hard, and I would like to enjoy nail polish and other things like other girls, but I have never thought of quitting synchronized swimming. At Aqualab Chofu, the choreography and music are decided by the athletes themselves, and they search for songs that match their image using free video streaming tools with their partners, discuss the overall composition, choreography, facial expressions, etc. During practice, they shoot video and check their movements while finishing up, The sense of accomplishment that comes from working together toward a single goal and receiving recognition as a result is a joy that can't be replaced by anything else.

Kono says that although she has won prizes in various competitions since she was a child, it was not until recently that she seriously reconsidered synchro as a competitive sport, which she had been doing as a hobby.

Last year, as a senior in high school, I won a gold medal in the free combination event at the World Junior Championships, where I was the last-place finisher, with only a 0.1 point difference from Russia, which was in second place, but I still managed to beat Russia, which is considered a world powerhouse, and it was a great feeling to win.

In April of this year, she enrolled in the University's Faculty of Sports and Health Studies to deepen her understanding of sports. I am learning a lot in classes such as anatomy and kinesiology, which are directly related to synchronized sports, but what makes me even more glad that I chose Hosei's Faculty of Sports and Health Studies is the diversity of the students, which was another reason for my admission. There are many athletes who are active in world-class competition in their respective sports, and just talking with them is stimulating. Recently, I have been asked if I am aiming to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. Of course, it would be nice if I could compete, but I feel that the Olympics are an extension of what I accumulate every day. The life of a synchro athlete lasts until his/her late 20s at the most. I would like to cherish every day so that when the time comes for me to quit one day, I will be able to face that day with satisfaction.

Kono was selected as the top-ranked athlete to represent Japan at the 10th FINA World Trophy, scheduled to be held in Shaoxing, China, from December 11 (Fri.) to 13 (Sun.), and is scheduled to compete in the event. I will do my best to fulfill my role. I look forward to your support.

• Reprinted from HOSEI ONLINE