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While there is some evidence that swimmers performed ballet-like maneuvers in the water in ancient times, the origin of synchronized swimming as an organized, competitive sport dates to the early twentieth century. In 1890 and 1891 we find the first competitions in Berlin, and in 1892 in London. At that time, only men could compete. The first mention of women participating in a competition is 1907. The names used at that time to describe the sport ranged from artistic, ornamental, figure or pattern swimming, to scientific swimming. In the 1920s, a group of Canadian women, led by water polo player and diver Margaret Sellers, developed what they called 'ornamental swimming' from life saving and swimming techniques.In 1907, Australian, Annette Kellerman, performing in a glass tank, had attracted national attention at the New York Hippodrome as the first underwater ballerina. Katherine Curtis, a student at the University of Wisconsin, experimented with diving actions and stunts in the water in 1915. Curtis started a water ballet club at the University of Chicago, called the Modern Mermaids, in 1923 and later performed in the lagoon at the Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago. The display at the 1934 Chicago World's Fair drew extraordinary reviews.Kellerman was an inspiration to a woman who would become a Hollywood phenomenon: Esther Williams, US freestyle champion and Olympic contender, portrayed Kellerman's life in the musical Million Dollar Mermaid. She also performed in a string of MGM "aqua musicals" in the 1940s and '50s, which inspired young girls everywhere to begin learning synchronized swimming. In the 1970s and 80s, Ft. Lauderdale swimming champion Charkie Phillips revived water ballet on television in The Brady Bunch Hour, "The Big Show", and then on screen with Miss Piggy in "The Great Muppet Caper".Over the next twenty years the sport grew, became very technical and athletic, music was added to the routines, and the name changed to "synchronized swimming". In 1960, after a world tour, U.S. swimmers demonstrated the sport at the Olympic Games in Rome. Synchronized swimming became an Olympic Sport in 1984 with solo and duet competition. The US took the first Olympic gold medals in the sport, with Tracie Ruiz and Candy Costie of Bothell, WA taking the gold in the duet competition, and Ruiz earning gold in solo. Only duets (two swimmers) and teams (eight swimmers) currently compete at the Olympic Games. Currently, the US is the only country that competes trios (three swimmers) at a national level, and is also strongly promoting the new combination "combo" routine. |
