Synchronized swimming remains only for women

Women have gained huge achievements in the world of sport today. This started me thinking about all the sports that women have been welcomed into and what sports they have not. There are still sports that do not allow women to participate (like football). So learning about women in sport it has occurred to me that it is mainly women in “men’s” sport. This caused me to think about sports that are meant just for women. Aside from separate events within a variety of sports, or the watered down version, one sport came to mind: Synchronized Swimming. An older article that I found from USA Today states that in San Francisco “A men's synchronized swim team has been barred from a meet at Stanford University, reinforcing an International Olympics Committee decision designating the sport as women-only.” And another that states, “Men have participated in synchronized swimming since the 1980s in mixed pairs, but have been banned from competing in the World Masters Championships because the Olympics classifies it as a female sport.” Although, I believe this to be a step in the right direction (having a sport that is seen by society as being for women only), a closer look at the sport is required. Synchronized swimming, while it requires mass amounts of talent and skill, it is still seen as feminine. By this I mean that it is not a contact or highly endurance sport, like say: football. Maybe one day equality throughout all sports will be seen.

Janet Pezold
KIN 338i (Tu/Th 2:00)