History of this sport

The first records of the practice of Artistic Swimming or Synchronized Swimming date back to 1891 in Berlin, Germany. During those years, several clubs were created to practice the sport and it spread to countries such as Australia, Canada, the United States, Germany, Spain, and France. In the beginning, it was considered a men's sport, but it quickly became a purely feminine discipline, until a few years ago, when it became a mixed discipline.

As a historical fact, in the early 20th century, Annette Kellerman, an Australian swimmer, toured the United States performing water acrobatics. Her shows were very popular and, as a result, the sport was born.

Artistic Swimming became an Olympic sport for the first time at Los Angeles 1984, with individual and duet events. These events were also held at the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games and at the Barcelona 1992 Games. Atlanta replaced the individual competition in 1996 with teams of eight athletes, but since the 2000 Olympic Games, the Olympic program has included duet and team events.

This competition was admitted to the Pan American Games in the second edition at Mexico City 1955. Since then, it has been part of all the Games, except for Chicago 1959 and Winnipeg 1967.

As of 2023, 2 males will be allowed to participate in teams and at Paris 2024 will be part of the Olympic program in this modality.

The Pan American medal count is led by the U.S. delegation, which has won a total of 38 medals, including 27 gold medals.