Bill May, the 45-year-old artistic swimmer who was hoping to get the chance to become the first man to compete at this summer’s Olympics, was not selected for the final U.S. team, the team announced Saturday.
Only eight of the 12-member U.S. artistic swimming team members and one reserve were selected to compete in Paris in July, including May, the team’s only male, who was not included in a rule change that allowed men to qualify for the Olympics for the first time.
May, who is also head coach of Santa Clara Artistic Swimming, one of the nation’s top clubs, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision. In a recent interview with The New York Times, he said not having men compete in the Paris Olympics was “almost a slap in the face.”
USA Artistic Swimming CEO Adam Andrusco called May “an inspiration.”
But Andrusco said the team had to send the strongest possible squad to Paris. Complicating matters is that all eight skaters must swim three events — technical, free skating and acrobatic — and they can’t swap events based on individual strengths.
“Unfortunately, artistic swimming rules limit the number of swimmers in all three events to eight,” Andrusco said in a statement. “As we honor Bill and support male inclusion across the sport, we will continue to celebrate the stories of these eight incredible women.”
May fell in love with artistic swimming, then called synchronized swimming, at age 10 in Syracuse, New York, and went on to become a giant of the sport and a passionate advocate for men to get involved. He has competed in many international championships as a duet with a female athlete, winning many championships, but it was 20 years ago that he last competed as part of a larger team.
The entire U.S. team, including May and 11 other women, qualified for the Olympics in February for the first time in 16 years. In the matches since then, head coach Andrea Fuentes has been trying out different configurations of players to determine which eight would go to Paris.
The sport has become more technically challenging and the judging tougher since May began her career. Age also played a role: At 45, May is 28 years older than the youngest member of her team, Audrey Kwon, who was 17. Kwon made it to the finals.
Artistic swimming, an indescribable blend of ballet, gymnastics, swimming and Esther Williams’ underwater spectacle, became an Olympic sport in 1984. Men have been able to compete in other international competitions since 2015, but it has never been included in the Olympics.
With a new generation of men emerging in the U.S. and abroad, May appeared to be the only male athlete from his country with a chance to make the Olympic team this summer, and he believed his participation was a sign that men were finally being accepted into the sport.
