'It was magical.' U.S. wins first medal in artistic swimming in 20 years

It may have been heartbreak, a failure by the slimmest of margins, which made all the difference.

The U.S. team in artistic swimming — what used to be known as synchronized swimming — was trying to make the Olympics for the first time in almost two decades when it missed qualifying by 0.66 points at a competition last year.

“It was a huge disappointment,” team member Jacklyn Luu said. “We really used that disappointment to fuel us.”

The American women not only earned their spot in Paris a few months later, they rode the momentum to an unexpected silver medal in the team competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics .

A strong acrobatic routine clinched the deal at the Aquatics Center on Wednesday night.

“You could feel the energy from each other in the water,” Luu said. “It worked so well, each routine, each lift that we did, it was just magical.”

A dominant China took the gold, as expected, with Spain finishing third. It helped that the Russians, the champion as a “neutral” team in Tokyo three years ago, were not allowed to compete this time around.

Still, the result showed how far the U.S. has come since coach Andrea Fuentes took over a struggling program in 2018.

Fuentes, a three-time Olympian from Spain, brought a freer, more positive leadership approach. As the team moved its training center to UCLA , she mapped out a process she hoped would turn her swimmers into medal contenders by the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

“Our sport requires years and years of technique,” she said during an interview two years ago.

Her schedule got jump-started by that near miss at the 2023 Pan Am Games. The Americans rebounded to finish third and secure their Olympic spot at last February’s world championships in Doha, Qatar.

“We’ve had a crazy two years,” veteran swimmer Anita Alvarez said. “The way this team has been able to adapt to all the challenges, all the adversity we’ve faced, has just made us so strong.”

The competition in Paris began with judges docking Alvarez and her teammates for a perceived error in the technical routine on Monday night. The U.S. appealed and, upon further review, got the points back. Tuesday’s free routine put them in second place.

This was the first time the Olympics had added a third swim devoted to acrobatics. China held a comfortable lead and was all but assured of winning, which left the Americans to compete with Spain, France and Japan for two remaining spots on the podium.

Fuentes and her staff created a routine inspired by sorcery, a theme the coach wrote had “always captivated me due to the profound mystery and magnetic energy it embodies.”

As the team’s flyer — the smallest swimmer who gets held above the water or tossed into the air for twists and spins — Audrey Kwon sensed things were going well right away.

“As soon as we finished our first platform lift and we nailed it,” she said. “I was like, OK, I have the rest of this and I knew we were set.”

Emerging from the pool, the team erupted in screams and hugs when the scoreboard showed them in first place with only China left to swim. The Chinese then executed a predictably flawless routine to win by more than 80 points.

“We are extremely happy,” swimmer Wang Liuyi said. “We are happy we brought back the gold medal.”

The silver was especially meaningful to Alvarez, who had pushed herself too hard at the 2022 world championships, passed out and drifted to the bottom of the pool. Fuentes dove in, fully clothed, to help pull her out .

The swimmer’s years of hard work, of sticking with the program through tough times, had finally paid off.

“Chasing the medal for the first time in 20 years,” she said, “I’m so proud.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .