What to Know
- In artistic swimming, there are team competitions and duet competitions at the 2024 Paris Olympics
- Athletes make their routine look effortless but training for artistic swimming is grueling
- Check out the full artistic swimming Olympics schedule below
Artistic swimming, used to be known as synchronized swimming, is about to make history at the 2024 Paris Olympics with its inclusion of male athletes.
The first event of the unique Olympic sport that combines water acrobatics with music is set to take place at the Olympics Aquatics Center on Monday at 1:30 p.m. ET. The team competition consists of three routines: a technical routine, a free routine and an acrobatic routine. The duet competition has a technical routine and a free routine. It's the first time that an acrobatic routine is included.
The United States will perform as the seventh of 10 nations in the technical routine, to the tune of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal," according to NBC Olympics.
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A panel of judges scores athletes based on their execution, synchronization, degree of difficulty, use of music and choreography. Athletes competing in artistic swimming must be flexible and maintain great attention to detail and coordination in order to execute routines successfully.
Athletes make their routine look effortless but training for artistic swimming is grueling, according to two-time American Olympian Anita Alvarez who nearly drowned in 2022.
“We're training eight-plus hours a day, treading water all day,” she said. “You have to be able to count time and work with music. You have to be able to watch your patterns and stay in line. We don't wear goggles when we compete. You're holding your breath. You don't touch the bottom. There are so many elements that go into it that people don't see.”
How to watch artistic swimming
You can watch the first competition live on Peacock or stream on nbcolympics.com starting at 1:30 p.m. ET or on E! at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Artistic swimming Olympics schedule:
| Date | Event | Time (ET) |
| August 5 | Team technical routine | 1:30p-3:00p |
| August 6 | Team free routine | 1:30p-3:00p |
| August 7 | Team acrobatic routine | 1:30p-3:15p |
| August 9 | Duet technical routine | 1:30p-3:30p |
| August 10 | Duet free routine | 1:30p-4:00p |
Since artistic swimming first became an Olympic discipline at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, only women have been allowed to participate. However, in 2022, the sport's governing body amended its rules to allow up to two male athletes to participate per nation in the team discipline. Paris 2024 was expected to feature the first male athletes to ever compete in artistic swimming at the Olympics, though none were named to any of the 10 participating teams.
North American countries, particularly the U.S. and Canada, enjoyed early success in artistic swimming on the Olympic stage. Since, Russia (including ROC) has emerged as the dominant nation, winning every gold medal in both disciplines since the 2000 Sydney Games. However, due to an IOC decision relating to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the streak will break as Russia is not eligible to enter a team or duet in Paris.
For the first time since Beijing 2008, the United States will participate in both the duet and team events at the Paris Games.
