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Artistic Swimming will now include men at the Olympics for the first time in history. Men will feature in artistic swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to the announcement made today on the World Aquatics official website.
The statement was as follows:
"The International Olympic Committee has given its approval for World Aquatics to allow men to participate in the artistic swimming competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games."
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has provided the approval to allow men to participate in the artistic swimming events at the Paris Olympics. Artistic swimming was previously known as synchronized swimming until 2017.
Artistic swimming (called synchronized swimming at the time of introduction) has been a part of the Summer Olympic Games since 1984.
The event made its debut at the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles, USA. Men will now be eligible to compete in the team event after today's historic announcement. In total, there are eight competitors in each team. According to the new rules, a maximum of two men will compete in each team at the Olympics.
The expected number of teams to compete in the event is 10. Men have been allowed to compete in artistic swimming at the FINA World Aquatics Championships since 2015.
Present and Former male artistic swimmers share their opinion about the announcement regarding artistic swimming
Former American artistic swimmer Bill May was the first-ever male world champion in the inaugural mixed duet technical event at the 2015 FINA World Aquatics Championships. Bill is currently a coach.
According to the World Aquatics official website, Bill has been one of the leading voices in advocating for this change. Speaking to World Aquatics, Bill May said:
"The inclusion of men in Olympic Artistic Swimming was once considered the impossible dream. This proves that we should all dream big. The male athletes have endured. Now, through their perseverance and the help and support of so many, all athletes may stand alongside each other equally, reaching for Olympic glory."
Bill claimed that the inclusion of artistic swimming in the Olympics was considered an impossible dream.
Giorgio Minisini of Italy has been one of the leading artistic swimmers competing in the sport. Giorgio was the world champion in the mixed duet technical routine event during the 2017 and 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships.
Speaking to the World Aquatics after this remarkable announcement regarding the male artistic swimmers, Giorgio said:
"This announcement marks a milestone in Artistic Swimming history. Our sport's evolution towards inclusivity is going on fast forward, and this decision from IOC and World Aquatics will help us become an example for the whole Olympic movement.
"As one of the most popular sports in the Games, we are ready to share the Olympic motto around the world louder than ever: "Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together”."
Minisini termed this announcement a milestone in the history of artistic swimming.
World Aquatics President speaks about the announcement regarding male artistic swimmers
World Aquatics President Husain Al-Musallam shared a few words on the World Aquatics official website regarding the inclusion of male artistic swimmers in the Olympic Games.
Husain said:
"Aquatics sports are universal and men have proven themselves to be excellent artistic swimmers. I look forward to seeing this new dimension of artistic swimming being shared with the world in Paris. The inclusion of men in artistic swimming is a great credit to all those who have worked for many years to make this happen."
The World Aquatics President claimed that he was looking forward to witnessing the new dimension of artistic swimming being shared with the world during the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
In the past month, there have been some back-to-back groundbreaking announcements related to swimming. First, the rebranding of FINA to World Aquatics on December 12 and now, the inclusion of male artistic swimmers in the Olympics. All in all, it was an important week for swimmers.
