ANCIENT ORIGINS

MEN WERE FIRST WITH NOSE CLIP AND SYNCHRONICITY

The haunt of nose clips, glitter, hair gel, make-up, beaming smiles and legs worthy of the catwalk, synchronised swimming, for women only, has endured much taunting and teasing over the years. Yet the protagonists are capable of holding their breath while performing their sport for long periods of time and count themselves among those at the Games with the most efficient cardio-vascular systems.

Now confined to the fairer sex, synchronised swimming began with men in the 19th century, when it was known by various names including water ballet, figure swimming and ornamental swimming. Male actors staged the first recorded synchronised swimming contest in Berlin in 1891. Anette Kellerman, an Australian swimmer, stole the men's thunder, however, when she performed in a glass tank in New York in 1907. Ever since, synchro has been synonymous with women.

The sport had to wait until the 1920s and 1930s before truly taking off. The world's first provincial artistic swimming championship was held in Montreal in 1924, with Peg Seller its first champion. From there, the movement spread to the US and an exhibition at the 1934 World Fair in Chicago helped to popularise it.

Katherine Curtis, a diver and gymnast, is credited with replacing the word ornamental with synchronised and was a big hit with "The Modern Mermaids", a shoal of 60 women. Duets and team events were first recognised in the early 1940s by the Amateur Athletic Union in the United States. Rivalry between the two top synchro nations of today, had its origin in late 1940s championships.

Yet none of that did as much for synchronized swimming as Esther Williams, who brought the sport to the silver screen with a series of "aqua musicals".