Originally known as water ballet, synchronised swimming developed in Canada in the 1920’s before spreading to the United States during the early 1930‘s.

A hybrid of swimming, gymnastics and dance, it is a sport that mixes water skills, strength, stamina, elegance and suppleness while also requiring supreme breath control.

There are hundreds of different regular positions and thousands of different combinations.

When performing routines, competitors normally wear a nose-clip, thereby allowing them to stay underwater for long periods. The employment of gelatine keeps the hair in place while the application of make-up highlights the features of the individuals.

Synchronised swimming is a sport that is performed almost exclusively by women. Olympic and World Championship competition is not open to men, although some national and international events do allow male participants.

Having previously been a demonstration sport at the Olympics, synchronised swimming was introduced as a full medal sport for the 1984 Games with two women’s events - the solo and the duet. Both of these were dropped after the 1992 Olympics to be replaced by a team event, consisting of teams of eight women, in 1996. The duet discipline was reinstated for the 2000 Games.

Competition for both events consists of a technical routine and a free routine, each performed to music within a time limit. In the free routine, there are no restrictions on music or choreography.

Underwater speakers ensure that swimmers can hear the music at all times.

Only three countries - USA, Russia and Canada - have won Olympic gold medals. Russia have harvested six, USA five and Canada three. Japan have won the most medals of any country, with their haul of 12 medals comprising four silvers and eight bronzes. The only other countries to have claimed a medal are Spain, who won both silver medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, and France and China, who have bagged a bronze apiece.

The most successful participants in Olympic synchronised swimming events have been Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova, two Russians, who have each amassed four gold medals. They won the duet event and were members of the triumphant Russian team in both 2004 and 2008.

Anna Kozlova became the oldest person to acquire a medal in Olympic synchronised swimming when she won a team bronze with the American team in 2004 at the age of 31 years and 240 days. She had finished fourth in the 1992 duet event when competing for Russia.

Judging in synchronised swimming is similar to that of figure skating, in so much as two panels of five judges assess a performance, with one panel appraising technical merit and the other considering artistic impression. In both instances, each judge awards a mark out of a possible 10.

Controversy reigned at the 1992 Olympic solo event, when a supposed error by the Brazilian judge cost Canada’s Sylvie Frechette, who finished second, the gold medal. After a crusade to overturn the official result, Frechette was belatedly awarded a gold medal in October 1993, although Kristen Babb-Sprague, the American who had finished first in Barcelona the previous year, was also allowed to keep her gold medal.