Paris is set to welcome the debut of artistic swimming—without any guys.
Bill May, a swimmer from the United States, was not chosen to compete in artistic swimming in the Olympics, despite his dream of being the first man to do so. Adam Pretty from Getty Images Today marks the start of the artistic swimming competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, with one significant difference from prior editions: men are now permitted to compete. The two-athlete duet event will not allow for the maximum of two men to compete in the eight-athlete team event, as per rule amendments issued by the International Olympic Committee in December 2022. But even the sharpest-eyed spectator might fail to notice this shift—of the 96 competitors from 18 nations slated to compete in the pool, not a single man has been chosen.
Bill May (right) previously competed for the United States in the world championships of artistic swimming. Griffiths, Laurence/Getty Images When it comes to male participation, artistic swimming—formerly known as synchronized swimming until a name change in 2017—has a convoluted and lengthy past.Male competitors, however, were later perceived as being at odds with the sport because of certain physical traits: they were bulkier, less flexible than female competitors, making leg extensions more difficult, and less buoyant.
