Artistic swimming is a unique sport on the Olympic program that combines water acrobatics with music. During the Olympic Games, the sport consists of two events: a duet competition and an eight-person team competition. Each event is made up of multiple performances that include a free routine and technical routine. The team competition also includes an acrobatic routine. A panel of judges scores athletes based on their execution, synchronization, degree of difficulty, use of music and choreography. Athletes competing in artistic swimming must be flexible and maintain great attention to detail and coordination in order to execute routines successfully. 

Since artistic swimming first became an Olympic discipline at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, only women have been allowed to participate. However, in 2022, the sport's governing body amended its rules to allow up to two male athletes to participate per nation in the team discipline. Paris 2024 was expected to feature the first male athletes to ever compete in artistic swimming at the Olympics, though none were named to any of the 10 participating teams.

North American countries, particularly the U.S. and Canada, enjoyed early success in artistic swimming on the Olympic stage. Since, Russia (including ROC) has emerged as the dominant nation, winning every gold medal in both disciplines since the 2000 Sydney Games. However, due to an IOC decision relating to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the streak will break as Russia is not eligible to enter a team or duet in Paris. 

For the first time since Beijing 2008, the United States will participate in both the duet and team events at the Paris Games.

Artistic swimming will take place at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Aug. 5 - 10.

When did synchronized swimming become artistic swimming?

In 2017, aquatic sports' international governing body rebranded the name "synchronized swimming" to "artistic swimming" in an effort to boost its popularity and be better understood by the public. Officials cited confusion among the public over the term synchronized, which never referred to swimmers mirroring each other but rather the music.

There will be five events included in the artistic swimming competition at the 2024 Olympic Games.

• Team technical routine
• Team free routine
• Team acrobatic routine
• Duet technical routine
• Duet free routine

The Olympics Aquatics Center will host artistic swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

This venue, along with Le Bourget Climbing Wall, are the only permanent sports facilities built for the Paris Games. The Olympics Aquatic Center is poised to host artistic swimming, water polo and diving in 2024. The Center was designed using bio-sourced materials only, making it a low-carbon facility that is committed to its energy and environmental performance.

After the Games, the venue will address the needs of Seine-Saint-Denis, its host region, and the French community as it continues to host major national and international competitions, such as the European Aquatics Championships and the World Aquatics Championships. The Aquatics Center will house a range of sports facilities after the Games, including a fitness area, climbing wall, paddle tennis courts and pitches for team sports.

Artistic swimming venue rendering at the Olympics Aquatics Center for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Paris 2024

Anita Alvarez, a veteran of both the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, leads an otherwise young and hungry U.S. team looking to restore the nation to the top of the sport. Apart from Alvarez, no other U.S. team member has prior Olympic experience.

Megumi Field and Jaime Czarkowski will compete in both Olympic disciplines: the eight-person team event as well as the duet event.