With the number of members on the team reduced to 12, if May can advance to the top eight, it will be a dream she has had for 35 years come true.
“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. capital of France.
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.
“My friend called me and said, 'You were the first person I ever knew that they were going to put men in the Olympics.' He said, 'And I said, , 'This is my life,''' May explained.
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.
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'll do whatever it takes,'” May added. “I don't care if I die in the end.
“I just want to be there. I want to show the world that men should be accepted into the sport of 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.
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.
“This 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.”
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.
He said: “People say, '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, there will also be men participating. And I want the little athletes to say, 'One day it's going to be me.' is.”