Artistic swimming: landmark moment for men denied

The sport of artistic swimming has missed out on a "landmark moment" after it was confirmed that there will be no male competitors at this summer's Paris Olympics.

Despite the governing body's "bold move" to let men compete in artistic swimming at the Olympics, there will be no male swimmers among the 10 countries competing in the team event after the United States left a male "pioneer" out of their squad, said Reuters.

What is artistic swimming?

Artistic swimming, formerly known as synchronised swimming, made its Olympic debut in 1984. It is a "mix of ballet, gymnastics, swimming and Esther Williams aquatic spectacle", said The New York Times (NYT). Williams was a swimmer and actor who competed and acted in the 1940s and 50s.

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With "glitzy swimsuits, exaggerated (waterproof) makeup, dramatic music and air of antic theatricality", artistic swimmers are nevertheless "superb athletes" with the "cardiovascular conditioning of sprinters" and the "flexibility of gymnasts", said the paper.

The first artistic swimming competitions took place in Berlin in 1891 and, interestingly, contests were originally "solely for men", said Aquatics GB. It was "soon recognised" that artistic swimming was "better fitted to women" who were "overall more buoyant, in particular in the legs".

But in 2022, World Aquatics announced that men would be allowed to compete in artistic swimming at the Olympics, with each country permitted two male swimmers in the eight-athlete team event. It was hoped that men would finally return to the sport.

'Towering figure'

Bill May was in with a chance of being the first man to compete in the sport at this summer's Olympics, but he did not make the US team's final roster of eight swimmers, meaning it will be an all-female affair in Paris.

One of the "complicating factors" in the selection process is that all eight athletes have to swim all three routines – technical, free and acrobatic", said the NYT, and "they can't swap in and out depending on their individual strengths".

Age is also a factor: at 45, May is 28 years older than the youngest person on the team, 17-year-old Audrey Kwon. He would have needed the ability to perform as one-eighth of a team of women half his age.

Although he has yet to comment on his omission, he said in a recent interview with the NYT that it would be "almost like a slap in the face" if men were not represented at the Paris Games.

He "fell in love with artistic swimming, then called synchronised swimming, as a 10-year-old boy", said the paper, and has gone on to became a "towering figure" in the sport as well as a "passionate advocate" for the inclusion of men. He has also performed with contemporary circus producers Cirque du Soleil.

Adam Andrasko, chief executive of USA Artistic Swimming, described May as "an inspiration" but said the team had to send the strongest squad possible to the Paris games.

Expressing its disappointment over the decision, World Aquatics said this summer "should have been a landmark moment for the sport", and although "it was always going to be a challenge for men to earn a spot on a team in time for Paris 2024", it was "still hopeful that some would succeed".

Meanwhile, World Aquatics said it is "absolutely determined" that there will be male artistic swimmers in the team competition at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, as well as a mixed duet competition.

Whatever their gender, artistic swimmers will face quite a challenge as they "spend much of their time upside down, holding their breath and remaining afloat by rapidly sculling with their arms", and their configurations are "so compact that the slightest misstep can result in unpleasant collisions and kicks in the head", said the NYT, so "it's not unusual for athletes to become concussed or to faint from the intensity."