Artistic Swimming And Its Evolution Over The Period In Olympics History

Artistic swimming made its debut in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, which was a women-only sport at the time. The sport has remained heedless to men for almost 40 years, and for the first time, men will be allowed to participate in artistic swimming in Paris, as announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the latter half of 2022. It marked a major reversal of what had been perceived as a “women’s sport” for a long time.

Artistic swimming, previously known as synchronized swimming, was governed by World Aquatics. Earlier male competitors were not allowed in this sport because they were heavier, less flexible as they find leg extensions more difficult, and less buoyant than their female counterparts.

Under the new rule, a maximum of two men can form a part of an 8-athlete team event, but not in the two-athlete duet event. Not a single man was selected among the ninety-six athletes from the eighteen participating counties. Bill May, a 45-year-old American swimmer, hoped to achieve his Olympic dream at the Paris 2024 Olympics, but he was not selected for the USA squad announced in June.

An acrobatic routine was added this year, along with a technical and free routine. The technical routine is two minutes and fifty seconds. The free routine is three minutes and thirty seconds, and the acrobatic routine is three minutes. Acrobatics is further divided into four categories: airborne, balance, combined, and platform.

An acrobatic routine that combines acrobatics with music is set to take place for the first time. Athletes make their routine look effortless, but training for it is grueling, said a two-time American Olympian. Scoring is based on execution, artistic impression, and level of difficulty. Coaches must hand over a card with details of the routine to the judges to determine the score. The athlete will be marked down if the routine does not match the card or includes an error. These changes led to the evolution of artistic swimming over the years in Olympic history.