No men were chosen among the 96 athletes nominated by 18 nations to compete in artistic (synchronized) swimming at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the first time where men were eligible to compete.
American Bill May, 45, and Italian Giorgio Minisini, 28, were the two most likely candidates to be the first men of Olympic synchro, but neither were chosen for their respective teams. That led to Minisini announcing his retirement from the sport on Tuesday.
“Obsession is a game you play when you are young,” Minisini said, confirming that the Italian Championships that begin on Thursday will be his last competition.
Minisini owns 10 World Championship medals, including golds in 2017 in the mixed duet technical, in 2022 in the mixed duet free and mixed duet technical, and 2024 in the solo free routine.
Lucrezia Ruggiero, his mixed duet partner for both 2022 gold medals, is scheduled to compete as part of the Italian roster.
While there are 11 artistic swimming events on the World Championships schedule, including men’s solo events, there are only two at the Olympic Games: the duet and team competitions.
Each Olympic team in artistic swimming sends 8 athletes to fill those two spots with a maximum of two of those being males.
With all due respect, the US team has no chance of getting on the podium in Paris in Artistic Swimming. They could have made history by naming Bill May to the team to reward the trailblazing and championing he has done for the sport. Andrea Fuentes and the selection committee had an incredible opportunity here to do the right thing.
Thank the lord