Following the conclusion of the artistic swimming events at the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024, the Olympic qualification pathway for the artistic swimming programme at the Paris 2024 Olympics has been finalised.
Two artistic swimming competitions will feature on the Paris 2024 Olympics programme: Team and Duet. The artistic swimming events will take place between 5-10 August in the Aquatics Centre, a facility that will also host the diving and water polo competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Ninety-six artistic swimmers are expected to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympics. NOC quota positions account for 88 of the qualification places and France as host nation was allocated eight places.
Artistic Swimming Team Qualification
The artistic swimming Team event at the Paris 2024 Olympics will feature 10 countries, with each team comprised of a maximum of eight competing athletes and one reserve athlete.
Men will be eligible to compete in artistic swimming for the first time in Olympic Games history, with a maximum of two men per team allowed to compete in the artistic swimming Team competition. (AS 6.2.1)
Continental Championships/Host Country
Five teams qualified for the artistic swimming Team competition by being the highest-placed National Olympic Committee (NOC) in the event designated as their Continental Championship or, in the case of France, by being the host country of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Continent | NOC | Qualifying Event |
Africa | Egypt | World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024 |
Americas | Mexico | Santiago 2023 Pan American Championships |
Asia | People’s Republic of China | 19th Asian Games Hangzhou |
Europe | France | Host country |
Oceania | Australia | World Aquatics Championships – Fukuoka 2023 |
World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024
Five additional teams qualified for the artistic swimming Team competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics by being the five highest-placed NOCs from the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024 that were not already qualified through the continental championships/host country criteria.
The five NOCs that qualified for the artistic swimming Team event at the Paris 2024 Olympics through their team’s combined point score in the Team Acrobatic, Team Technical and Team Free routines at the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024 were (in order of their combined point ranking in Doha): United States, Spain, Japan, Italy and Canada. Only the final results were considered in each of the three events.
Artistic Swimming Duet Qualification
Artistic swimming at the Paris 2024 Olympics will feature 18 duets with each NOC eligible to qualify a maximum of one duet into the event.
The qualification pathway for the Paris 2024 Olympics provided three chronological stages for a NOC to qualify for the artistic swimming Duet competition.
Stage 1 | Artistic Swimming Duet Qualification
The first stage was through artistic swimming Team qualification. The 10 NOCs that qualified for the Team competition (including the host country) automatically qualified one duet into the Paris 2024 Olympics. The 10 NOCs qualifying via this method are (in alphabetical order): Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, People’s Republic of China, Spain and the United States.
Stage 2 | Artistic Swimming Duet Qualification
The second stage of artistic swimming Duet qualification to the Paris 2024 Olympics involved up to five NOCs qualifying through Continental Championships/Host Country criteria.
For the Americas, the Santiago 2023 Pan American Championships was the continental qualifier. For Asia, the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou, for Oceania, the World Aquatics Championships – Fukuoka 2023, and for Europe, the 2023 European Championships in Poland.
For Africa, the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024 served as the continental qualifying event. However, Africa did not have an NOC participate in the artistic swimming Duet competition in Doha.
The United States and Japan – the continental championships artistic swimming Duet qualifiers from the Americas and Asia – earned their NOC a position by the first stage of the criteria. Therefore, this quota space is then reallocated to the next highest ranked Duet at the World Championships 2024 Doha, Duet event -as referenced in Stage 3-.
NOCs from the following countries qualified for the artistic swimming Duet competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics through the second stage (in alphabetical order): Austria and New Zealand.
The NOC Continental Championships quota positions for Africa, Americas and Asia were then allocated to Stage 3 of qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Stage 3 | Artistic Swimming Duet Qualification
The World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024 served as the third stage of qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympics in the artistic swimming Duet competition.
Six NOCs earned artistic swimming Duet qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics in the third stage. These positions were obtained by being the six highest-ranked, not-yet-qualified, duets at the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024. These NOCs were (in order of their final cumulative point ranking from the women's Duet competitions in Doha): Great Britain, Netherlands, Greece, Israel, Ukraine and the Republic of Korea.
Olympic History of Artistic Swimming
Artistic swimming made its debut as a demonstration sport at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. The Los Angeles 1984 Games, though, is when artistic swimming achieved full Olympic sport status, with medals awarded in the Women’s Duet and Women’s Solo events.
The Atlanta 1996 Olympics saw the introduction of the women's Team event, replacing the other two artistic swimming events. Starting with Sydney 2000, both Team and Duet competitions have been part of the Olympic programme.
At Paris 2024, men will be allowed to compete in artistic swimming for the first time in Olympic history, participating in the Team event.
About the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification Pathway for Artistic Swimming
World Aquatics worked closely with the IOC Sports Department and the leadership of the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming Technical Committee, and also consulted with its National Member Federations, to develop qualification principles for the artistic swimming events for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Aquatics Olympics Qualification Principles for the Paris 2024 Games were published on 18 June 2022. For these principles, please refer to the following link: Aquatics Olympic Qualification System Principles.