More on the exclusion of men from international syncrhonized swimming

Jean-Philippe Franqueville, a swimmer from Paris Aquatique, a member club of Paris Aquatique, a member club of FGG member organizations FSGL and IGLA, has recently been invited to write on the website of noted French newsmagazine Le Nouvel Observateur on the exclusion of men from international synchronized swimming competitions.


Here is a summary of his piece:

There are many sports where women are fighting for a place in international sports competition, but they’re not alone.

It is thanks to the efforts of the synchronized swimming team of Paris Aquatique that the French federation modified its rules in 2005 to accept male teams. And if there are at least four teams of a gender in the event, separate rankings are made.

While the originality of our performances pleases spectators and fans, we face a great deal of prejudice from many, in particular with regard to the artistic element of the sport. Many swimmers can become discouraged by the mocking of male synchronized swimmers.

We bring “masculinity” to our performances, through the power of our movements, the themes of our ballets, and our musical choices. We don’t mimic women swimmers: we use the same techniques to produce a different result.

Men can only reach the highest level if they begin young. But until the sport is truly open to men, this will not be possible.

We asked the IOC to allow us to do a demonstration at the London Olympics, a request that was refused;

The rules of FINA do not in fact ban men, and refer only to “competitors”. But when we try to register online for competitions, as soon as we identify ourselves as men, the option “synchronized swimming” disappears from the options;

Other countries are changing their rules and several male teams now exist. But FINA refuses to budge. This is odd, since the sport was created by men, and only spread later to women.