Teams including France, pictured here, have been competing in the artistic swimming – formerly known as synchronised swimming – at the Aquatics Centre north of Paris. When synchro was introduced at the 1984 Olympics, the New York Times declared it one of the new Olympic ‘glamour events’. A focus on the bedazzled costumes and aesthetics, according to Time, cemented ‘the idea that the world of competitive synchro was a feminine, performative domain’. This year, for the first time, men were allowed to compete, although none did. But watch this space for LA 2028.
