Bill May, the 45-year-old artistic swimmer who made headlines for his quest to become the first man to compete in the sport at the Olympics, faced disappointment as he was not selected for the U.S. team’s final roster for the upcoming Paris Games.
Despite being the only male athlete on the U.S. artistic swimming team, Mr. May did not make the cut for the eight-person squad, plus an alternate, that will represent the country in July. The decision was announced by the team over the weekend, leaving Mr. May out of the lineup.
Mr. May, who also serves as the head coach of Santa Clara Artistic Swimming, expressed his disappointment in not being chosen for the team. In a recent interview, he had emphasized the importance of having male representation in the sport at the Olympics.
Adam Andrasko, chief executive of USA Artistic Swimming, praised Mr. May as “an inspiration” but explained that the team had to select the strongest squad possible for the competition in Paris. The rules of artistic swimming require all eight athletes to participate in all three routines, limiting the flexibility in team selection.
Despite his long and successful career in the sport, Mr. May faced challenges due to the increasing technical difficulty and stricter judging criteria in artistic swimming. His age, at 45, also played a factor as he was significantly older than the youngest member of the team.
Artistic swimming, a unique blend of ballet, gymnastics, swimming, and aquatic spectacle, has been an Olympic sport since 1984. While men have been allowed to compete in international competitions since 2015, the Olympics had not previously permitted male athletes in the sport.
Mr. May’s journey to break barriers and pave the way for male athletes in artistic swimming may have hit a roadblock with his exclusion from the U.S. team. However, his passion and advocacy for male participation in the sport continue to inspire a new generation of athletes both in the United States and around the world.
