Penguin-walking onto the deck to the tune from the movie Frozen - "In Summer" sung by the snowman Olaf, the Malaysian duo Katrina Abdul Hadi and Lee Yhing Huey was already entertaining the crowd with their funky leg movements even before they hit the water.

But once they are in the water, Abdul Hadi, 22, and Lee, 23, are transformed into battle-hardened warriors, spinning, slicing and struggling against their watery foe to emerge as gold medallists of the SEA Games synchronised swimming duet technical and free competition at the OCBC Aquatic Centre on Thursday.

The Malaysians triumphed with an official total score of 150.9103 for the duet free routine, finishing ahead of Singapore's Stephanie Chen, 19, and Crystal Yap, 18, who amassed 149.8372 points.

But the fight is not over for Abdul Hadi and Lee, who had both competed in the 2011 SEA Games. They will be competing again on Thursday evening with their teams in the team free combination finals for the last medal on offer for synchronised swimming.