Male devotees of artistic swimming – once more broadly known as synchronized and before that water ballet – have been given the green light to form mixed teams and try to earn a place at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
AP reports men have competed in synchro at the lower levels for decades but now they have been told they can go to the Summer Olympics. Men will be eligible to compete in the team event, with the new rules permitting no more than two men in a team of eight competitors.
“I think it’s a huge opportunity for the sport to grow and attract more men,” U.S. competitor Bill May told the Associated Press at the World Aquatics Championships. “By keeping men out you’re limiting the sport. By including men you’re going to see an upshift in the popularity and the numbers.”
The AP report sets out May was among the first men to compete when synchro debuted in the worlds in 2015.
Bill May, front, leads the U.S. team out to compete in the team acrobatic of artistic swimming at the World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, Saturday, July 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Nick Didlick)
He worked for 17 years at Cirque du Soleil doing water-themed shows but has now been drawn out of competitive retirement for a chance to compete at the Olympics.
“There has always been that misconception that it’s a female-only sport, or that it’s for wimps, or that it’s not a difficult sport,” the 44-year-old May said. “Anyone that has anything negative to say about the sport — boy, female, anyone. Just try it and you’ll know it’s the most difficult sport in the world.”
Another competitor told AP he was relieved for the chance to compete at the highest level after years of being taunted and made fun of for his love of a “girls” sport.
Beginning in elementary school, 18-year-old American Kenny Gaudet dreamed of being a synchronized swimmer. He made it but plenty of people thought men should not be swimming alongside girls in open competition, he told the outlet.
U.S. competitor Bill May says largely unnoticed by the general public, men have been participating in artistic swimming, formerly known as synchronized swimming or water ballet, for decades. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
“It makes me emotional just to think about the problems we all went through and the struggles we all had just to get a chance to swim and do what we love,” said Gaudet who competed at this year’s worlds.
“So much bullying. So much slander. So much hate,” he added. “Just because of my gender, just because I’m a male in artistic swimming. When I first started I wanted to quit so many times. Growing up my peers would ask why I’m doing a female sport, why am I being like a girl and degrade me for doing what I love to do.”
A few countries at the world championships have male swimmers including the United States, Japan, Germany and China. Spain and Italy also have top competitors.
Eduard Kim of Kazakhstan competes in the Artistic Swimming Men Solo Technical Final during day one of the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final Meet 1 on June 02, 2023 in Oviedo, Spain. (Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty)
World Aquatics president Husain Al-Musallam said last year 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,” he enthused to Sky News.
“The inclusion of men in artistic swimming is a great credit to all those who have worked for many years to make this happen.”