The world’s strongest nations in synchronised swimming are competing in Rio this weekend. Well, almost all of them. There is one notable absence – the country that has won all the Olympic gold medals since 2000. But Russia is never far from its rivals’ thoughts.

“The thing that makes synchronised swimming different from other sports is that you kind of know the result before you compete, and I think we need to change that,” said China’s Japanese head coach Mayuko Fujiki. “The Russians are the best, they are way ahead, but other countries are on the way to beating them. I think it is possible, but every country must offer something different from Russia, because if you try to do same things, they will always win.”

China and Spain, who shared the silver and bronze medals in the two synchronised swimming events at the London 2012 Games, present the greatest threat to the Russians. Both are in town for the Brazil Synchro Open, which is taking place on 10-12 April at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre, the venue that will also host synchronised swimming during the Olympic Games.

Spain also won both silvers at Beijing 2008 and are fully aware of who their main rivals are. “The standard of the Russians is very, very high,” said Ona Carbonell, who won silver in the duets in London. “To get there, we have to focus on performing well, on always being at our best. But the Russians are still the favourites to get the gold medal in Rio.”

Spain's Ona Carbonell knows the Russians will be hard to beat at Rio 2016 (Photo: Alex Ferro/Rio 2016)

Ukraine, who won team bronze at the 2013 world championships, also hope to challenge the Russians in Rio. Anna Voloshyna said: “Russians are the best, but they can be beaten, if not in Rio, in the future. We all have to train hard, compete hard.”

While the Russians were in Rio for warm weather training in January, their rivals are now making the most of their chance to perform at the Olympic venue. And for the fans, it is a chance to get a sneak preview of some of the routines that will be performed at the Games. Brazil, for example, used the event to further develop their duet routine, which has a capoeira theme, and their team performance, which pays homage to motorbiker culture.

“The idea is to evolve the performance gradually, increase the degree of difficulty and make the routines more competitive each time,” said Brazil coach Maura Xavier.

The Brazilian team showed off the latest take on their Olympic routine (Photo: Mathilde Molla/Rio 2016)

Along with China, Spain, Ukraine and Brazil, the other nations competing at the event – which has free entry for spectators – are Canada, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Venezuela.

“I love Rio and Brazil,” said Voloshyna. “The weather is always nice and so are the people. This is a great venue to compete in, it’s much better when we compete in an open venue like this.”