Artistic Swimming at the Olympics
Synchronized swimming, now known as Artistic swimming, became popular in the 1930s when it was featured in the Ester Williams films of the era. After a couple of Olympic demonstrations, the sport was officially introduced to the Olympic Games for the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. Up until 2024, only women competed in the synchronized swimming events at the Olympic Games. A maximum of two men are now eligible to compete in the team event, which features eight athletes on each team.
synchronized swimmers doing a performanceThe current Olympic program has competitions in duet and team events, but in past games, a solo event was also contested. The women's solo event was held from 1984 to 1992, where it was replaced on the competition program by the team event from 1996 onwards.
Artistic Swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympics
There are two events, the Duet and Team. For Paris 2024, the number of swimmers competing across the two events has been reduced from 104 to 96. There is also a change in eligibility. The sport was once for females only, now a maximum of two men are eligible to compete in the team event.
Trivia
- Russia has recently dominated the synchronized swimming, winning every event in 2000 and 2004.
- The best all-time performing artistic swimmer at the Olympic Games is the Russian Svetlana Romashina who has won seven gold medals. See more on the Greatest Synchronized Swimmers at the Olympics.
- From 2024, men are eligible to compete in the team event, leaving rhythmic gymnastics as the only sporting discipline that is solely for women.
Related Pages
- More about the sport of Synchronized Swimming
- Synchronized Swimming Olympic demonstrations
- List of Olympic Sports
- About the sporting discipline of Aquatics at the Olympics
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