Maria Kiseleva spoke about the situation in synchronized swimming

We were and still are leaders.

In an interview with the Moscow 24 TV channel, Maria Kiseleva spoke about the prospects for the development of synchronized swimming in Russia in connection with the new world rules.

Many Russian sports fans are convinced that synchronized swimming is a women’s sport. And the reaction of a number of fans to the IOC allowing men to compete equally with women in synchronized swimming at the Olympics was somewhat negative.

Is it so bad that men will receive their first medals in synchronized swimming at the 2024 Games? On the day of the start of the Russian Synchronized Swimming Championships, Moscow 24 TV channel spoke with three-time Olympic champion, three-time world champion Maria Kiseleva:

“We have men’s synchronized swimming, moreover, it has been at the official level since 2015. Men officially take part in the world championships, and today they are allowed to participate not only in mixed duets, but also in group competitions, including male synchronized swimmers have the opportunity to go to the Olympics.

Everyone approaches men’s synchronized swimming differently, I had my own experience in 1998. Then Olga Brusnikina and I, in a duet, together with the whole team, performed at the Goodwill Games in New York. This was a time of great popularity for synchronized swimming in the USA, and their duet at the competitions was mixed: Bill May along with his partner.

At that time, men could not compete in official competitions, but since the Goodwill Games were alternative competitions, he was allowed. Such rivalry was not entirely fair: two girls and a man and a girl competed. We won then, and their duet became second, but questions arose. If sport had continued to develop in this direction, there would probably have been a lot of questions and a lot of disagreements.

Today this is a separate direction – a mixed duet, where a girl and a young man perform. There are many advantages in this direction. Because, for example, it is strange for two girls to act out some kind of love story, of which there are many in the classics: both in musical works and in literary works. But a mixed duet – boys and girls – will be able to do this with a creative component, this is a big plus. The next plus is the strength of the male body, purely physical. Ideally, a man should be stronger than a girl. Another question is that men in our sport simply did not have enough time to reach such a level.

We were lucky that we had and still have Alexander Maltsev, who was engaged in synchronized swimming, not yet imagining that he would have the opportunity to perform on the international stage. And when suddenly this door opened, he found himself in great shape. He, of course, became the best and is currently the best synchronized swimmer in the world.

Now the situation with men’s synchronized sports in different countries is different, but today both boys and girls come to us for training, and we begin training, inviting children from 5 years old.

The fact that Russian athletes were not allowed to participate in the Olympics both in group competitions and in duets suggests that everyone still considers Russia the leader of world synchronized swimming and, of course, is afraid of competition. And even with the new rules, we held our own tournament, and the whole world is watching how Russian teams train and perform.

Because we were leaders and remain leaders. Of course, everyone is interested in how Russia copes with these new rules. We host a large number of starts, including international ones. The Russian Championship, the BRICS Games, and the Friendship Games are planned for this year, which are held according to the Olympic system and new rules.

Our first start, which we conducted under the new rules, showed that all the scores of our winners are higher than the scores of the winners of past world championships.”

The full interview with Maria Kiseleva can be watched on the Moscow 24 TV channel on Wednesday, January 24, at 18:30 or on the website m24.ru.