First, it should be pointed out that artistic swimming is a performance style sport. It’s a show and the whole aim of it is to look great. This means it’s literally designed to be watched! From the swimming costumes and the music to the make-up and facial expressions, the whole competition is a performance choreographed months in advance. We know it makes people think it’s less of a serious sport but what’s wrong with wanting to put on a show?
The effort athletes put into making the sport look easy means that artistic swimming is actually deceptively challenging. It requires flexibility, strength, and endurance, all while swimming with a smile. There are also a lot of hidden rules which are easy to miss, but when you know them, it makes the sport more complex. Did you know that having more than six lifts in a team gets a penalty? Or that using the pool floor is forbidden? The more you watch, the more you learn, and the more you become invested.
Even if it’s not a sport you fall in love with and make your friends watch all the time, the novelty of artistic swimming certainly makes it interesting to watch even once. It’s a mixture of gymnastics, swimming, and dancing, which makes it completely different from anything else you will have seen before. Sometimes I find myself watching it and wondering how it even got invented! It’s weird for sure, but that’s part of its appeal.
So, if you find yourself bored over the coming weeks, why not start watching artistic swimming? With the senior championships and combo cup coming up, I can’t think of a better time to try it!