SYDNEY -- Japanese water-babes Miya Tachibana and Miho Takeda swam for the gold in the synchronized swimming duet final Tuesday, but were beaten by a Russian team whose routine drew on Japanese culture for inspiration.

The Japanese duo finished with an overall score of 98.650 points -- 0.930 points behind gold-medal winners Olga Brusnikina and Maria Kisseleva -- and will come home with the silver in the event.

"We realized the Russians have a very high skill level. We were able to earn a medal this time and we can proudly say we did very well in this event," Tachibana said.

The silver is Japan's first in synchronized swimming at an Olympics.

Japan has won all seven bronze medals on offer at the Olympics since the sport's introduction at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.

It also pushed Japan's total medal tally at the Sydney Olympics to 14, equal to that in Atlanta four years ago.

The Japanese duo -- consistently ranked second in the world -- were splashing for gold after making steady ground on the Russian pair throughout the year.

Their coach, Masayo Imura, had believed Olympic judges would be tough on the Russian pair after Kisseleva was stripped of her European Championship gold medal last month for testing positive to ephedrine.

Kisseleva served a reduced one-month ban from competition -- allowing her to compete at the Sydney Olympics.

But the Japanese duo made a minor error in their final routine Tuesday.

"There was a mistake in the middle of the routine, but we did try and we did our best so I am happy in that regard," Takeda said.

The Russians created a stir at the Olympic qualifications competition in Sydney earlier this year when they debuted their chosen routine, which features karate-style kicks and Japanese drums.

Kisseleva denied it had been a deliberate tactic to stay ahead of the Japanese duo.

"We thought it would be a surprise to the Japanese, but we didn't have that idea in the first place," Kisseleva said.

"It was not a conscious choice. We liked the sound of the Japanese drums. We could not think of anything else. As for the Japanese karate theme, we just liked it."

In the final free routine final, the Russian scored perfect 10s for both technical merit and artistic impression from every judge except Japan's Junko Koyama, who gave them 9.9 for technical merit.

The French pair of Virgine Dedieu and Myriam Lignot won the bronze medal, relegating the sport's former powerhouses -- the U.S. and Canada -- to fourth and fifth, respectively.

Tachibana and Takeda, who met in primary school and began training as a duet three years ago, have another chance for gold in the team competition Thursday and Friday.