Artistic Swimming Presentation

One of the unique and most recognisable things about artistic swimming is the athletes’ costumes, make-up and presentation.

Artistic swimmers will often wear elaborate costumes which, while they do not count towards any of the scoring, should complement the music selection and be in good moral taste.

Presentation marks are affected by swimmers’ facial expressions in the water so they will wear waterproof make-up to ensure their features can be seen clearly throughout, and gelatin in their hair to ensure it stays slicked back and out of the way!

Athletes aren’t allowed to wear goggles – this would mask their facial expressions further – but they are permitted nose clips to aid them with the underwater aspects of the routine.

Another distinctive aspect of synchro is the deck work. Swimmers have ten seconds on poolside before they enter the water and while their walk on to the pool and the position they take do not count towards a score, they do set the tone for the routine and judges will already be forming their impression from it.