A bit of the sport's history will be revealed this weekend at the new Olympic Aquatics Center on the northern outskirts of Paris as Bill May tries to secure a spot on the U.S. Artistic Swimming Team.
The fact that May is 45 years old and has made more comebacks than Sinatra is neither here nor there: what is striking about his presence at the World Cup event in Saint-Denis, an Olympic test event , becoming the first man in history to compete in an Olympic event that he is on the brink of.
Until this year, artistic swimming (the new name for synchronized swimming) was a women's only sport, and May was cheering from the sidelines.
If May can advance to the top eight, with the team being reduced from the current 12 members, it will be a dream she has had for 35 years come true.
Advertisement – SCROLL TO CONTINUE
“It's almost unimaginable to be competing in the Olympics, because it's something I thought I would never be able to do in my career,” he told AFP at the team's Olympic training base outside Aubonne. Told. Paris.
May, who took up the sport at the age of 10 to compete with her younger sister, was given the big news just before Christmas 2022.
“A friend of mine called me and said, 'You're the first person I've ever heard that they're trying to put men in the Olympics.'
Advertisement – SCROLL TO CONTINUE
he said: “'Do you want to do it?' And I said, 'This is my life.'”
May was an overachiever during the first half of her career, winning the U.S. national championship duet and being named the U.S. Synchronized Swimmer of the Year in 1998 and 1999.
However, because there were no spots for men in the World Swimming Championships or the Olympics, May ended up wearing a competitive nose clip in 2004 and continued to perform underwater with Cirque du Soleil.
Advertisement – SCROLL TO CONTINUE
Then came the news that men would be allowed to compete in the 2015 world championships in Kazan, and May came out of retirement.
“I said without thinking, 'I'm going to do it no matter what. I don't care if I die at the end. I just want to be there. I want to show the world that men should be accepted too. I want to show it to you.’ It’s a sport called artistic swimming.”
On July 26, 2015, he made history by winning a gold medal with partner Christina Jones for a mixed duet technical routine, becoming the first man to win an artistic swimming gold medal at a major competition.
Advertisement – SCROLL TO CONTINUE
They won a silver medal in their free routine, and May went on to win medals at the World Championships in Budapest in 2017, Fukuoka in 2023 and Doha this February.
“It was a great opportunity for myself, but also a great opportunity to show the growth of the sport,” he said.
“I would also like to say to other male athletes, to other athletes who want to represent diversity in all sports, that they can have a dream and go for that dream and nothing will stop them. It was also to help people understand.”
Advertisement – SCROLL TO CONTINUE
At the Olympics, there will be no changes in team members for any of the three events. The same eight people selected must compete in technical, free and acrobatic programs on three consecutive nights.
So the question for this weekend's test event is whether 45-year-old Bill May can keep pace with his next oldest teammate, who is 25 years his junior.
For May, it would truly be a dream come true for him to qualify and wear a U.S. uniform in Paris.
“I was 10 years old when I stood on that pool deck, and I never looked back,” he says.
“I never felt out of place until people asked me, 'Why are you playing this sport? You're the only guy.'
“I didn't think I was any different from other athletes at a young age who wanted to try something new and do something they loved.
“So this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. At the Olympics, we're going to have men participating, too. And I want the little athletes to say, 'One day it's going to be me.' ”
