Artistic swimming dazzles with strength and grace at Tokyo Olympic Games
The competitors in artistic swimming displayed strength, beauty and grace while competing at the Tokyo Olympics. Previously, the event was known as “synchronized swimming” until the international federation for Artistic Swimming, FINA, made the change in 2017.
USA Synchronized Swimming followed suit in 2020 and changed its name to “USA Artistic Swimming, according to a March 2020 statement from Team USA. Adam Andrasko, USA Artistic Swimming CEO, said the change was “a chance to usher in a new era for the sport.”
“As a world leader in the sport we recognized the need to align with the changes FINA made, and we are proud to support the great work that is being done by them to move our sport forward,” Andrasko said in the statement. “However, that is not the only reason for the change. The name change offers us an opportunity to showcase how the sport has evolved. Gone are the days of water ballet. This is where true athleticism and artistry meet. We look forward to showing you how exciting artistic swimming is”
Team free routines:
Team technical routines:
Women's duet finals
In the women's duet finals at the Tokyo Games, the Russian Olympic Committee's Svetlana Kolesnichenko and Svetlana Romashina took gold with a score of 98.800. This marks Romashina’s sixth Olympic gold medal in the event. The pair performed to the music “Spiders,” taking on the arachnid theme.
China’s Huang Xuechen and Sun Weny earned a silver medal with a score of 96.900 in the final free routine themed around snakes and Ukraine’s Marta Fedina and Anastasiya Savchuk captured the country’s first-ever Olympic medal in artistic swimming with a score of 95.600.
Check out more incredible images from the Tokyo Olympic Games: