Synchronised swimming or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA. It is traditionally a women's sport, although FINA introduced a new mixed duet competition at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships that included male swimmers.
Sara Kamil-Yusof is a Malaysian synchronised swimmer. She started synchronised swimming at the age of 12 in early 1997. A few months later, her coach retired and Sara stopped swimming. But later that year she was invited to join several other girls for a training stint for a few months in Canada for an upcoming national competition.
Sylvie Fréchette, is a Canadian former synchronised swimmer. She is the 1992 Olympic champion in the women's solo event.
At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the team event in women's synchronized swimming was contested. It was the first appearance of the team event, which replaced the duet and solo events held previously.
The 14th FINA World Championships were held on 16–31 July 2011 in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming, water polo, diving, open water, and synchronized swimming. At this championships, synchronized swimmer Natalia Ishchenko, of Russia, was the most decorated competitor winning all six gold medals of her events, at solo, duet and team routines. These championships served as qualifying stages for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The women's team event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, took place at the Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre from 26 to 27 August. The Russian synchronized swimmers delivered a superb performance to defend their Olympic title in the event, having received a straight line of five perfect marks from the judges for a composite score of 99.501. Japan maintained a silver-medal streak on its second Olympics by a single point short of Russia's score with 98.501, after displaying their explosive lifts and quick changes of pattern throughout the routine. Having failed to secure an Olympic medal in the sport from the previous Olympics, the U.S. squad assembled a colorful demonstration of multiple sequences and flying leaps to hold on for the bronze with a score of 97.418.
The women's duet synchronized swimming event at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held from August 18 to 20, at the Beijing National Aquatics Center.
The women's team event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center from 22 to 23 August. The Russian squad had displayed their complex choreography with an unmatched precision in the free routine to defend their Olympic title for the third straight victory, having received a nearly perfect mark of 99.500 by the judges. Spain picked up a silver with 98.251 points, while the Chinese squad surpassed the 2004 Olympic silver medal team Japan by nearly a two-point advantage to claim a bronze for the host nation's first ever Olympic medal, recording a composite score of 97.334.
Gemma Mengual Civil is a Spanish synchronised swimmer. She has competed at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. On 15 February 2012 she announced her retirement. After retiring she became involved with coaching the national synchronised swimming team. However in June 2015 Mengual announced that she would return to competition with the aim of competing at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia, in the mixed duet with Pau Ribas, whom she had previously coached. Although she had previously indicated that she would not compete beyond the World Championships, in September of that year she confirmed via social media that she would compete in the duet in the 2016 Summer Olympics with Ona Carbonell.
Samantha Reid is an Australian synchronised swimmer. She participated in the 2008 Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics, representing Australia.
Tarren Otte is an Australian Olympic synchronized swimmer. She was selected to represent Australia at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics in synchronized swimming.
Jenny-Lyn Anderson is an Australian synchronized swimmer. She competed in the women's team event at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Olga "Olia" Burtaev is an Australian synchronised swimmer. Burtaev joined Australia's National Team at 14 years of age, and made her international debuts at the 2010 Swiss Open and the 2010 FINA Synchronised Swimming World Cup. Burtaev competed for Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and represented the nation at the 2011 and 2013 World Aquatics Championships.
Reem Wa’il Abdalazem El-Bossaty is an Egyptian synchronised swimmer who competed in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
Synchronized swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro were staged from 15 to 20 August at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Center. A total of 104 athletes competed in two medal events, namely the women's duet and the women's team.
The women's team event at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, took place at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre from 28 to 29 September. The Russian synchronized swimmers performed a witch-themed routine with a variety of flying lifts and multiple pattern changes to score 99.146 out of a possible 100 points for an Olympic gold medal in the team event. The Japanese squad excelled in the artistic impression component for a score of 40 in the final free routine, but had to be satisfied with a second Olympic silver at these Games, having received an overall total of 98.860. Meanwhile, the Canadian octet snatched the bronze with a composite score of 97.357, finishing ahead of France by almost a full point (96.467). The U.S. team failed to collect an Olympic medal for the first time since the sport's introduction in 1984, as the swimmers finished the routine in fifth at 96.467.
The women's team competition of the synchronized swimming events at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto was held from July 9 to July 11, at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre. The defending Pan American Champion was the team from Canada.
The Women's team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, took place at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center from 14 to 16 August.
The women's duet event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, took place at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre from 2 to 4 August 2021. It was the 9th time the women's duet event was held at the Olympic Games.
The women's team event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, will take place at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on 6 and 7 August 2021. It will be the 7th time the women's team event is held at the Olympic Games.
