With just over 900 days to the opening of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, the IOC and World Aquatics have approved and published the Qualification System for artistic swimming. The approval follows extensive collaboration among the IOC Sports Department, the World Aquatics Bureau, the World Aquatics Technical Artistic Swimming Committee, National Federations, coaches, and athletes. This coordinated effort ensures a fair and efficient qualification process for athletes and teams by aligning goals and streamlining procedures among all involved.

The approval of the Qualification System for artistic swimming follows the publishing of the LA28 Qualification System documents for swimming and open water swimming during the first wave of sports announced last month. The Qualification Systems for diving and water polo are expected to be published early next month, pending approval from the IOC Executive Board, which is scheduled to meet from 31 January to 2 February 2026.

All aquatics Qualification Systems follow the Qualification System Principles approved by the IOC Executive Board in March 2025, ensuring athletes will have at least two qualification opportunities, continued representation for every continent and minimised travel demands.

Among the artistic swimming highlights:

Olympic quota: 96 athlete places

Two events, Team and Duet, are on the LA28 Olympic sports programme, with 10 teams and 18 duets comprising the fields.

Teams are composed of eight athletes, with up to two male athletes. Duets are composed of two female athletes.

Qualification for LA28 artistic swimming begins in 2027 with the World Aquatics Championships – Budapest 2027 (26 June – 18 July 2027) and Continental Championships (dates and locations to be confirmed).

As the host nation, the United States of America automatically qualifies for the Team and Duet.

Qualification concludes at the 2028 World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final (date and location to be confirmed).

World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam commented:

“Our goal has been to create meaningful and accessible opportunities for aquatics athletes to qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games through high-quality competition pathways. Fairness and global representation were core to our approach. This has been a collective effort, and I am pleased that we have delivered a clear and equitable pathway for athletes pursuing LA28.”

Following President Husain Al Musallam's remarks, Olympic artistic swimmer and reigning World Aquatics Female Artistic Swimmer of the Year, Iris Tio Casas, shared her thoughts on the new pathways: "For athletes like me, knowing there's a transparent and fair system in place gives us the confidence to perform at our best. It's inspiring to see the collective focus on fairness and opportunity."

The LA28 Olympic Qualification System Principles for artistic swimming can be found here. The full list of approved Olympic Qualification System Principles documents can be found here. The World Aquatics press release about the Olympic Qualification System Principles for swimming and open water swimming can be read here.

Artistic Swimming Helps Anchor the Second Half of LA28

The detailed session calendar for all sports was created with LA28 organisers and the IOC and released in November 2025. Artistic swimming will be featured during the second half of the Games at the Long Beach Aquatics Center, with events spanning from 25-29 July 2028.

Dynamic duos will take to the water first, with the Duet Final scheduled for Day 12 (26 July) of the Games. The Team Event Final will then close out artistic swimming on Day 15 (29 July). Notably, Day 15, the day of the Team Event Final, is set to be the most action-packed day of the LA28 Games, with 'Super Saturday' featuring 26 finals sessions across 23 sports.

Discover the LA28 Olympic aquatics event schedule here. The entire LA28 Olympic competition schedule can be found here.

LA28 to Deliver Unprecedented Sports Programme with World Aquatics Governing the Most Medal Events

The LA28 Olympics, taking place from 14 July to 30 July 2028, are set to be the largest Games in history, with 36 sports and 351 medal events. This represents an increase from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which featured 32 sports and 329 medal events.

With 55 medal events across swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming, and open water swimming on the LA28 Olympic programme, World Aquatics once again governs the largest share of medal events at the Games—more than any other international federation. This reflects an increase from the 49 aquatic medal events contested at Paris 2024.

Los Angeles previously hosted the Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984.