In 2017, the Olympic event that had long been known as synchronised swimming had an imposed rebrand, when the international governing body of aquatic sport decided it should now be called “artistic swimming”. The name change generated uproar. Kris Harley-Jesson, who had coached national teams in Europe and North America, launched a petition that quickly collected more than 11,000 signatories from 88 countries. One swimmer, Jessica Lewis, expressed the outrage of many: “Artistic swimming sounds like something society ladies did with their bosom friends at garden parties or after tea in the early 20th century. Synchronised swimming is a REAL sport for REAL athletes.”
Despite the protests, the name persists. National federations that held out against the change have mostly fallen into line. Still, in advance of this summer’s Paris games, there is a feeling in the sport that it does not get the respect it deserves – there remain echoes, some believe, of the sentiment of former IOC president Avery Brundage, who long resisted calls for “synchro” to be included in the games, dismissing it as “aquatic vaudeville”, an offshoot of the Hollywood visions of Busby Berkeley and Esther Williams.
The underwater photography of James Rokop – shortlisted in this year’s Sony world photography awards – makes an incontrovertible argument for the extreme athleticism of the swimmers. The contemporary sport has an emphasis on “hybrid” upside-down sequences, with much of the gymnastic action, as in this picture, taking place below the surface. Rokop is the official photographer of the USA team preparing for this summer’s games. For the first time in Paris male swimmers will be allowed to compete – a maximum of two per team of eight. Rokop’s pictures could therefore include a 45-year-old swimmer named Bill May, a veteran of the Cirque du Soleil; just don’t call him an artist.
The Sony world photography awards 2024 exhibition is at Somerset House, London WC2, 19 April-6 May
