Where Did ‘Synchronized Swimming’<em> </em>Go?
If you’ve been watching the Olympics, you may have noticed that synchronized swimming has a new name. In July 2017, the International Swimming Federation, or FINA, announced that the sport would be called “artistic swimming,” effective immediately. Not everyone was a fan—to put it mildly.
“‘Artistic Swimming’ sounds like something society ladies did with their bosom friends at garden parties or after tea in the early 20th century,” wrote Jessica Lewis, one of more than 11,000 people from 88 countries who signed a petition against the renaming at the time. “Synchronized swimming is a REAL sport for REAL athletes.”
The change may seem minor to outside observers, but it has unleashed a furious debate over the sport’s identity and future. The majority of those within the world of synchronized swimming, or “synchro”—one of two women-only Olympic sports—had no inkling that the change was coming. Within days, Kris Harley-Jesson, a former synchro swimmer who has coached national teams in Europe and North America, had launched the aforementioned petition. Thousands of public comments written in multiple languages poured in, including from current and former swimmers and coaches at all levels of the sport.
Their concerns were would erase the very essence of the sport, and that the financial cost of rebranding would fall to the teams themselves. But the biggest concern, by far, was that the term would detract from the athleticism of the sport, which has always faced an uphill battle to be taken seriously. As one commenter wrote, “Synchro swimmers had a hard enough time convincing others that their sport is a real sport and is hard to do, without it having a ridiculous name.”
