USA Synchronized Swimming Moonwalked Upside Down Under Water During A Michael Jackson Routine

Every four years at the Olympics, the world gets invested in a number of sports that rarely are part of the public consciousness in non-Olympic years. Whether that’s the marquee Olympic events like track, swimming, or gymnastics , it also applies to niche sports that can become fan favorites for a brief week in the spotlight ( see: handball ).

There are then the sports that remain fairly niche, even within the Olympic schedule, but even those that don’t get shown on TV can get their shine if they produce a viral moment. This week, we got an example of that with synchronized swimming, when the USA artistic swimming team broke out an under water moonwalk that had the internet buzzing during a routine set to Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal”.

Synchronized swimming is always wild to me, but hitting an upside down, under water moonwalk is truly incredible — and insanely cool. Team USA finished fourth after the technical routine, scoring a 282.7567 (I have no idea how that score is tabulated or why it goes into the ten thousandths of a point) that put them two points behind Japan, with Spain five points in front and China a hilarious 21 points clear of them for first. The free routine will be today, and perhaps they can climb into a medal position with that, but even if not, they’ve already garnered a whole lot of buzz and rightful praise from their Michael Jackson routine.