artistic swimming, exhibition swimming in which the movements of one or more swimmers are synchronized with musical accompaniment. The sport developed in the United States in the 1930s. The sport’s governing body replaced the name synchronized swimming with artistic swimming in 2017. Because of its similarity to dance, it was once sometimes called water ballet.
Artistic swimming is an organized amateur sport in many areas of the world under the general supervision of World Aquatics, the governing body formerly known as the Fédération Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA; International Amateur Swimming Federation). It publishes a manual of figures—the movements competitors execute—that are accepted in competition. FINA first recognized synchronized swimming in 1954. Swimmers in solo, duet, or team (four to eight persons) competition perform a routine that consists of several required figures together with several of their own choice. At the Olympics and in world competition, the swimmers’ routines are scored by two panels of five judges across several categories tied to performance and style, both of the individual figures and of the choreography and use of music. In addition, two groups each made up of three people, called technical controllers, watch for errors during the routine and assess penalties.
What is now known as artistic swimming was admitted as an Olympic event for women in 1984. The competition originally consisted of solo and duet events, but both events were dropped at the 1996 Games in favor of a single eight-member team event. The duet event returned to the Olympic program in 2000, where swimmers were judged on both compulsory and optional figures. A new scoring system and the inclusion of male members in team competition are significant changes being adopted for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.