Why Did Synchronized Swimming Change Its Name?

Olympics viewers may have noticed that synchronized swimming goes by another name these days: artistic swimming. The moniker made its Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021, nearly 40 years after the sport itself entered the Olympics.

According to The Atlantic, the idea for a rebrand originated with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which hoped that it would help the sport’s visibility and popularity. The International Swimming Federation, FINA, asked its internal Technical Synchronized Swimming Committee (TSSC) to come up with a new name, and it submitted artistic swimming. Not only would that highlight the sport’s artistic component—which accounts for one-third of the scoring breakdown—but it would also ideally engender associations with artistic gymnastics, one of the most popular, difficult, and respected Olympic events. FINA approved the name in a 2017 vote, and the rest is history.

Or it would be, if the new name (and the way it came to be) wasn’t such a thorny issue within the synchronized swimming community. The TSSC had initially resisted the rebrand, but ultimately relented for the greater good of not falling out of favor with FINA and the IOC—especially since the IOC had said it would keep the sport in the Olympics if it chose a different name. Moreover, FINA usually lets sport-specific subgroups weigh in on matters germane to their sport before having the general congress vote on them. The organization bypassed that step this time, leaving the name change mostly up to delegates from other aquatic sports who had no chance to educate themselves on the issue.

After the vote, former synchronized swimmer Kris Harley-Jesson kickstarted a Change.org petition in protest of the rebrand, explaining in the description that artistic swimming “does nothing to convey the athleticism” of the sport and is only “a lateral move.” But she also articulated that she’s not against rebranding in general—it’s more a problem with this particular title, and the fact that it was chosen without enough input from synchro swimmers. The petition garnered some 11,000 signatures.

Synchronized swimming does have a bit of a branding problem. Contrary to popular belief, synchronized doesn’t refer to the swimmers being synchronized to each other—it means they’re synchronized to music (which takes the contradiction out of solo synchronized swimming). And the highly artistic performance quality of the sport—not to mention its history as an Old Hollywood gimmick—can sometimes distract viewers from its difficulty level. As Artistic Swimming Australia president Kim Davis told NBC Chicago, “Imagine sprinting all-out, while underwater, chlorine in your eyes, holding your breath and trying to be in line with seven of your other colleagues.” The word artistic doesn’t quite capture all that.

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