Team USA's Mary Killman And Mariya Koroleva On London 2012 Synchronized Swimming

The fact that Team USA synchronized swimming partners Mary Killman (pictured) and Mariya Koroleva, 22, who swam in the women's synchronized duets event on Tuesday, only placed 11th may have something to do with the fact that they've only been swimming together for a year.

Although American synchronized swimmers used to place well in synchro events, this year's U.S. swimmers didn't even qualify in the team competition, and Killman and Koroleva were the only American swimming synchros to make it to the 2012 London Olympics at all.

"For a synchronized swimming duet, being together for a year is a very, very short amount of time," said Koroleva, who was born in Russia but has dual citizenship and lives in the California's Bay Area near Killman. "I think we've definitely accomplished a lot in that year," Koroleva said, reports the Christian Science Monitor. "Even though we're a new duet, we're at that level where we can be competitive with other duets who have been together for years."

Though Killman and Koroleva were confident in their abilities, they recognized the extent to which they would have to prepare for the Olympics to compensate for their short time together. "We have a lot of mental training, and we go over our routine — we go over it every night," Killman told Uinterview in an exclusive interview in association with WebMD before the London games. "We listen to our music all the time. It's on our iPods. It's kind of scary when it comes up on shuffle," she told us, laughing.

"We train about 8 to 10 hours a day," Koroleva echoed in her own exclusive with Uinterview. "Afterwards, we have some land work that we do," she explained. "We go through our routine on land."

For more Uinterview exclusives and stories on the 2012 London Olympics:

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EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Olympic Water Polo Captain Betsey Armstrong Talks Returning To Olympics

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Nathan Adrian: 'It's And Honor' To Swim Team USA

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Olympics Swimmer Brendan Hansen Lost His Olympic Gold Medal

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Olympic Diver Cassidy Krug Describes The Perfect Dive

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Olympic Volleyball Player Lindsey Berg Is 'Honored' To Be Named Captain

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Olympian Nick McCrory Talks Diving With David Boudia