50 Fun Facts About Artistic Swimming

In which year did FINA, under IOC instruction, rename synchronised swimming to artistic swimming?

Water ballet and rhythmic swimming were older names from the early 20th century.

The governing body renamed World Aquatics in 2022 was formerly known by which acronym?

FINA renamed itself World Aquatics in 2022.

In which year did artistic swimming become an official Olympic sport?

It had been demonstrated at Helsinki in 1952.

At which Olympics was the sport first demonstrated, with a torch lit in honour of its American pioneer?

FINA only recognised it as its fourth water sport in 1968.

Who is credited as the true originator of synchronized swimming, via a University of Chicago water ballet club?

The phrase 'synchronized swimming' was first used by announcer Norman Ross at her 1934 Chicago World Exhibition show.

Which Australian swimmer-vaudevillian staged a 1917 water ballet at the New York Hippodrome?

She was one of the first women to wear a one-piece bathing suit and launched her own line of them.

Which Hollywood star popularised the sport in films such as Bathing Beauty and Million Dollar Mermaid?

In Million Dollar Mermaid she played Annette Kellerman, and the title became her MGM nickname.

Which choreographer created the 15-minute aquacade 'By a Waterfall' for the 1933 film Footlight Parade?

The glass-walled, glass-floored pool took up an entire soundstage.

Where and when was the first recorded competition in the sport held?

In the late 19th century it was a male-only event.

In the sport's earliest days in the late 19th century, who competed?

US men were only allowed back alongside women in 1978, and UK men not until 2014.

How long were routines under the international rules in force at Paris 2024?

There is a penalty for touching the bottom of the pool.

What are the three types of element in a routine?

Each element's difficulty is declared before the routine on a 'coach card'.

In artistic swimming, what is a 'hybrid'?

Its base difficulty value is 0.5, with skill values added on top.

Acrobatic movements, where a swimmer is propelled out of the water, are also known as what?

The four types are airborne, balance, platform and combined.

What is the swimmer who is lifted out of the water in an acrobatic movement called?

Support swimmers underneath use the eggbeater kick to generate the lift.

Which treading-water technique lets swimmers hold height above the surface with their hands free?

An average eggbeater height is around collarbone level.

Which hand-sculling technique is used most often to hold the body up when a swimmer is inverted?

Other named sculls include propeller, barrel, spinning, totem and paddle.

In the 'ballet leg' position, what does the swimmer do?

In a double ballet leg both legs point straight up.

The 'crane' position is also known by what fishy name?

The 'bent knee' position is also called the heron.

In the 'flamingo' position, where is the swimmer's bottom leg?

The 'tub' has both legs pulled up to the chest with the shins dry on the surface.

Why do competitors wear noseclips?

So much of the routine is spent inverted that a clip is essential.

What do competitors traditionally apply to keep their hair in place during a routine?

Headpieces are attached to the bun as part of the costume.

Which item of standard swimming kit are artistic swimmers NOT allowed to wear in competition?

They usually compete wearing make-up and heavily sequinned suits.

How do swimmers hear the music while they are submerged?

Younger swimmers compete 'figures' without any music at all.

Which event was added to the Olympic programme in 1996 as solo and duet were dropped?

The duet returned in 2000 and has run alongside the team event ever since.

In which year was the Olympic solo event held for the last time?

Atlanta 1996 had only a team event.

Who won both the solo and duet gold medals at the sport's Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 1984?

Her duet partner was Candy Costie; both were coached by Charlotte Davis.

Which Canadian won both solo and duet gold at Seoul 1988, the latter with Michelle Cameron?

She later worked as a sportscaster in Ottawa.

Between 2000 and 2020, how many of the 12 Olympic gold medals available did Russian swimmers win?

The streak ended only when Russia was banned from Paris 2024.

Which country became the dominant force after Russia was sanctioned from 2021?

The Wang twins won China's first Olympic duet gold in Paris.

Who is the sport's most decorated athlete, with 41 golds across Olympics, worlds and Europeans?

She retired from Olympic competition after Tokyo.

Natalia Ishchenko, a five-time Olympic champion, took what job after retiring in 2017?

She was also a nineteen-time world champion.

Which pair of twins won the women's duet in Paris in 2024, ending Russia's run of six titles?

Great Britain and the Netherlands took their first ever Olympic medals in the sport behind them.

Which two nations won their first ever Olympic artistic swimming medals in the Paris 2024 duet?

The de Brouwers are also twins.

What rule change for Paris 2024 turned the women's eight into a mixed eight?

In the end no country picked a man.

How many routines did the Olympic team event consist of at Paris 2024?

The acrobatic routine was added to world championships in 2019 as the 'highlight routine'.

Which American became the first man to win a world championship gold in the sport, in Kazan in 2015?

He came out of a ten-year retirement when the mixed duet was added.

In which year was the mixed duet introduced at the world championships?

Men's solo events reached the world championships in 2023.

Which deputy prime minister vowed his country would keep using the old name after the 2017 rename?

The US only adopted the new name in 2020.

The 2022 rules overhaul brought the sport's judging closer to which two other sports?

Difficulty is now declared in advance and can be downgraded to a 'base mark' if not delivered.

Artistic swimming's 'figures' originated from the compulsory figures of which sport?

Figures are generally competed by swimmers under sixteen.

What concussion rate did a US Olympic medical director find on the national team at one camp?

Swimmers routinely kick each other in the head while sculling inches apart.

What routine infraction draws a penalty under World Aquatics rules?

Swimmers must stay synchronised with each other and the music for routines of two to three minutes.

After being dropped in 1996, the Olympic duet competition was restored at which Games?

Solo and duet had featured from 1984 to 1992 before the team event replaced them for one Games.

Which event made its senior World Championships debut in 2023 with technical and free routines?

Men-only solos had first appeared a year earlier at the European Championships and World Junior Championships.

In which year was a free routine combination, mixing solo, duet and team elements, added to the World Championships?

From 1973 to 2001 the worlds had offered only solo, duet and team; the combination was renamed free combination in 2005.

In which year did the United States again allow men to compete alongside women, decades after the AAU takeover?

Men had been permitted until 1941; in the UK the ban lasted until 2014.

Katherine Curtis served overseas from 1943 as Red Cross recreation director under which two generals?

During that posting she produced the first international aquacade, in Caserta, Italy.

Which announcer first introduced the sport as 'synchronized swimming' at the 1930s Chicago World Exhibition?

He was presenting Curtis's show 'The Kay Curtis Modern Mermaids'; the term later became standard through the AAU.

The first US synchronised swimming competition, on 27 May 1939, was held at which institution?

Wright faced the Chicago Teachers' College; Curtis persuaded the AAU to recognise the sport officially in December 1941.