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Olympic Artistic Swimming 2024: Where to Watch, Full Schedule
Eight elite swimmers are set to represent Team USA, aiming to secure their 10th medal in Paris.
Artistic swimming, previously known as synchronized swimming, is returning at Paris 2024. The new name was introduced at Tokyo 2020. The sport is entering Paris with a brand-new scoring system and new structure, and the field is wide open.
Russia, which has been nothing short of dominant in the event, winning gold in every team and duet event since 1996, per NBC Olympics, won't be formally represented in Paris 2024 due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, but that leaves the podium for artistic swimming up for grabs.
According to NBC Olympics, artistic swimming routines require specific elements of difficulty, like figure skating. Since Tokyo 2020, the competition has changed. An acrobatic routine has been added to the team competition. Conversely, the duet competition, which previously included a preliminary free routine along with a final free routine, now only features a final routine.
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Team USA has qualified as one of eight nations competing in the team event for the first time since 2008 Beijing. Read more to learn which athletes are on their way to Olympic glory.
Key athletes to watch
On a team of eight, Anita Alvarez is heading to the Olympics for her third appearance. Alvarez is the first USAAS athlete since Sarah Josephson to have competed in three Olympic Games. At 14-years-old, she participated in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
She’s back ready to compete in Paris following her run earning third at Tokyo 2020 in women’s duet and placing ninth in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
“It’s been a long journey for the USA to get back to this point,” Alvarez said. “This is my third round of the Olympics. I’ve been a part of two of those with just a duet, because we couldn’t (field) a team to qualify for Rio, and then for Tokyo, we just missed out on qualifying. So to finally lock in the spot in Doha was super special for the team and for myself.”
Alvarez is entering the Olympics following a traumatic event at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest in 2022. At the event, Alvarez passed out and sunk to the bottom of the pool, where Team USA head coach Andrea Fuentes came to her rescue in the pool, fully clothed.
According to NPR, 2022 wasn’t her first time passing out in the pool, as she had a similar situation occur in 2021, at an Olympic qualifying event in Barcelona, and Fuentes led her to her safety again.
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When discussing Paris 2024, Alvarez is feeling optimistic.
"Our confidence is level. Which I feel is a great place to be.” Alvarez spoke to USA Artistic Swim. “Although every time we get the opportunity to compete, we gain a new sense of confidence in ourselves and what we plan to show in Paris, it also always teaches us simultaneously that there’s still tons of room to grow.”
Joining Alvarez on Team USA is Jaime Czarkowski, 20. The athlete began synchronized swimming after watching her neighbor do it. Nine years following her moment of discovery, Czarkowski and her neighbor duetted together and her neighbor swims at Ohio State.
Learn more about the athletes headed to the Games on NBC's Olympics website.
How to watch
Every day during the Summer Olympics, NBC will offer fans at least nine hours of daytime coverage of the Games’ most exciting events, including live finals coverage of swimming, gymnastics, track and field, and more. Considering the time difference (Paris is six hours ahead of the U.S.’s eastern time zone), fans will be able to watch the day’s most popular events live on NBC in the morning and afternoon. NBC will also deliver an enhanced Olympics primetime show each night, providing three hours of must-see entertainment.
In addition, every event from the Summer Olympics will be broadcast live on Peacock, which will be home to an innovative Olympics hub that will include "curated rails of live and upcoming events, dedicated in-depth hubs for nearly 40 sports, medal standings and an interactive schedule."
Complete schedule for artistic swimming events
Monday, August 5
1:30 p.m. ET: Team: Technical Routine
Tuesday, August 6
1:30 p.m. ET: Team: Free Routine
Wednesday, August 7
1:30 p.m. ET: Team: Acrobatic Routine (Final)
Friday, August 9
1:30 p.m. ET: Duet: Technical Routine
Saturday, August 10
1:30 p.m. ET: Duet: Free Routine (Final)
