Men to participate in artistic swimming in Paris 2024

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World Aquatics has announced that men will be permitted to participate in artistic swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, a sport which was only open to women participants so far. This has been celebrated as a historic push for inclusivity by athletes, who have termed it as an “impossible dream” come true. According to the announcement, each team of 8 athletes, can include a maximum of two men, and only 10 teams have received approval from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Artistic swimming, previously called synchronized swimming, was introduced at the games in 1984, but have so far not permitted men to participate, even though the World Aquatic Championships have done so since 2015. Bill May of USA, who was the world’s first male champion in the mixed duet at the 2015 World Aquatics Championship, has described the development as proof that one should dream big, and that male athletes have endured.

Giorgio Minisini of Italy, who won the mixed duet technical routine in 2017 and 2022, has also described the decision as a major milestone which is expected to promote inclusivity, and set an example for the Olympic movement, whose motto is “Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together”.