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What Is Synchronized Swimming?

Synchronized swimming — officially renamed “artistic swimming” in 2017 — is a sport that combines swimming, dance, and gymnastics performed in water, set to music. Athletes execute choreographed routines featuring lifts, spins, formations, and acrobatic elements while keeping precise synchronization with their partners.

From the surface, it looks graceful and effortless. Underneath, swimmers are treading water furiously, holding their breath, executing powerful kicks, and lifting teammates above their heads — all while smiling. It’s one of the most deceptively difficult sports in existence.

What It Actually Involves

A typical competitive routine lasts 2-4 minutes and includes:

• Figures — Specific body positions and movements performed in the water, often while inverted
• Lifts — Teammates are thrown out of the water, sometimes to impressive heights, using only leg power (touching the pool bottom is not allowed)
• Spins — Rapid rotations above or below the water surface
• Formations — Geometric patterns that the team creates and transitions between
• Transitions — The movements between highlights, which must be seamless and synchronized

All of this happens in water at least 3 meters (10 feet) deep. There is no touching the bottom. Athletes spend entire routines either treading water or performing an intensely athletic egg-beater kick that’s unique to the sport.

The Physical Demands

Artistic swimming requires an unusual combination of abilities:

Aerobic fitness — Performing a 4-minute routine at high intensity while holding your breath for extended periods demands extraordinary cardiovascular conditioning.

Strength — Lifts require explosive leg power. Holding positions requires core strength. Treading water for extended periods requires leg endurance.

Flexibility — Split positions, leg extensions, and body contortions are standard. Flexibility comparable to gymnasts is expected.

Breath control — Swimmers spend significant portions of their routines underwater. Training to perform athletically while oxygen-deprived is a critical skill.

Spatial awareness — Maintaining precise formations with teammates while upside down, underwater, and spinning requires remarkable proprioception.

How It’s Judged

Routines are scored on two main criteria:

Technical merit — The difficulty and execution of specific elements. Judges look for precision, synchronization, height on lifts, speed of rotation, and correct body positions.

Artistic impression — Choreography, musical interpretation, presentation, and overall entertainment value. This is more subjective and considers creativity, emotional expression, and how well the routine tells a story or creates a mood.

Synchronization is paramount in both categories. Even a split-second timing difference between teammates is visible and costs points. Teams practice individual movements thousands of times to achieve the microsecond-level precision the sport demands.

A Brief History

Water ballet — performing choreographed movements in water — has been around since at least the early 1900s. Annette Kellerman, an Australian swimmer, pioneered aquatic performances in the 1910s. But the sport really took shape through Esther Williams, whose spectacular aquatic films in the 1940s and 1950s brought synchronized swimming to massive audiences.

Competitive synchronized swimming was formalized in the 1940s and 1950s. It debuted as an Olympic demonstration sport in 1948 and became a full Olympic medal event in 1984 at the Los Angeles Games.

Russia (and previously the Soviet Union) has dominated the sport at the international level, winning every Olympic gold medal in the duet and team events from 2000 through 2016. China, Japan, Spain, and Ukraine have also been consistently strong.

Training and Lifestyle

Elite artistic swimmers typically train 6-8 hours per day, six days a week. Training includes pool work (routine practice, figures, fitness swimming), dry-land conditioning (strength, flexibility, dance), and extensive time working on specific elements and synchronization.

Many athletes begin training before age 10 and compete through their mid-twenties. The sport demands years of development — mastering the unique kicks, building the necessary breath-hold capacity, and developing the teamwork required for true synchronization takes a very long time.

The Name Change and Public Perception

The sport has long battled a perception problem. Many people dismiss it as “not a real sport” — a characterization that would evaporate instantly if they tried treading water for four minutes while performing acrobatics. Studies have shown that artistic swimmers have some of the highest VO2 max values (a measure of aerobic fitness) among all Olympic athletes.

The rename to “artistic swimming” was partly an attempt to combat this image. Whether the new name sticks in public consciousness remains to be seen — most people still say “synchronized swimming.” But whatever you call it, the combination of athleticism, artistry, and sheer difficulty makes it one of the most remarkable sports you’ll ever watch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why was synchronized swimming renamed to artistic swimming?

World Aquatics (formerly FINA) officially changed the name to 'artistic swimming' in 2017 to better reflect the sport's blend of artistry, athleticism, and technical skill. The old name was seen as underselling the difficulty and creativity involved. Many people still use both names interchangeably.

How long can synchronized swimmers hold their breath?

Elite artistic swimmers routinely hold their breath for up to a minute during routines, sometimes longer. They perform intense physical movements while inverted or submerged, which makes the breath-holding even more demanding than it sounds. Athletes train specifically to increase their lung capacity and breath-hold tolerance.

Is synchronized swimming only for women?

Historically it has been predominantly female, but mixed duet events (one man, one woman) were introduced at the world championship level in 2015 and debuted at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Male-only events are growing at the club and national level in several countries. The sport is becoming more inclusive.

Further Reading

• World Aquatics - Artistic Swimming
• Artistic Swimming - Olympic Games
• USA Artistic Swimming