Artistic Swimming secures funding for High Performance Manager and Wellbeing Manager

The sport of artistic swimming has secured a funding boost to employ a High Performance Manager and a Wellbeing Manager based at Perth's Artistic Swimming National Centre of Excellence. 

The funding - $125,000 in 2023/24 and $100,000 in 2024/25 - will go towards the two staff members at Perth's Artistic Swimming National Centre of Excellence located in HBF Stadium at Mount Claremont.

Artistic swimming - or synchronised swimming - is a hybrid of swimming, gymnastics and dance which requires strength, rhythm, flair and the ability to hold your breath underwater.

Artistic swimming is one of only two sports to host a national high-performance program in Perth. The other is hockey.

A dozen athletes are part of the Team Australia Squad going to the Paris Olympics, which start on 26th July. Four members of the squad hail from WA - Hannah Burkhill, Natalia Caloiero, Raphaelle Gauthier and Alessandra Ho.

Supported by Artistic Swimming WA, the sport's peak body in the State, the Artistic Swimming National Centre of Excellence has been in Perth for two years.

The Western Australian Government through both Inside WAIS and VenuesWest support the full-time Centre of Excellence program in Perth that is funded by Patron Gina Rinehart through Hancock Prospecting. The WA Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries support Artistic Swimming WA in addition to supporting the national program.

Come July, for the first time in Olympic history, men will be included in the artistic swimming competition. Artistic swimming also now includes a team acrobatic routine round, which will debut in Paris.

WA Sport and Recreation Minister David Templeman noted "With Paris 2024 around the corner, we wish our artistic swimmers all the best.

"We're proud to host the Artistic Swimming National Centre of Excellence in Western Australia and look forward to cheering these athletes on as they compete at the newly built 5,000-seater Aquatics Centre in Saint Denis.

"More importantly, this funding will support the sport for the next couple of years, past the Olympics, helping further strengthen the sport and its future competitiveness.

"Funding for this sport is part of helping create a vibrant, inclusive and resilient sport and active recreation sector in Western Australia.

"Congratulations to Artistic Swimming WA, our peak body for the sport, which has shown strong leadership in first securing the centre for Perth and then supporting it."

Image. WA Sport and Recreation Minister David Templeman with the Hancock Prospecting Artistic Swimming Australia team at HBF Stadium. The team will represent the Australian Olympic Team at the Paris 2024 Olympics.