How it works, what to know

Here’s what you need to know about artistic swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

When did artistic swimming become an Olympic sport?

Artistic swimming made its Olympic debut at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, but historically, only women were allowed to compete. However, for the 2024 Paris Games, men will be permitted to compete for the first time. However, according to NBC Sports, no men were named to team rosters.

How does Olympic artistic swimming work?

Artistic swimming – sometimes colloquially known as synchronized swimming and governed by World Aquatics – is essentially water acrobatics set to music. The athletes perform choreographed routines, sometimes launching themselves out of the water. At the Olympics, the competition is broken into two events, duet and team competition, and each event features a free routine and a technical one. Athletes are judged and scored based on execution, synchronization, degree of difficulty, music and choreography, so think of it as a combination of gymnastics and swimming. For the 2024 Olympics, up to two men are allowed to compete in the team competition.

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Who are the top Team USA athletes in artistic swimming?

• Anita Alvarez, 27, Santa Monica, California: 2016 and 2020 Olympics, placing ninth and 13th, respectively, in duet competitions; could become first three-time American Olympian for artistic swimming.
• Megumi Field, 18, Wilmington, Delaware: 2023 world championship technical team bronze; 2024 world championship free team bronze medal; committed to swim at Stanford after the Paris Games.

What’s the international landscape in Olympic artistic swimming?

Initially when artistic swimming joined the Olympic lineup in 1984, Team USA and Canada dominated. But in the 21st century, Russia has been the standard, sweeping both events in the past six Games. Ahead of the Paris Olympics, China holds the World Aquatics top-ranked spot in several categories, but Spain, Great Britain and the Netherlands are highly ranked as well.