Competitions of Artistic Swimming

Olympic Games & World Championships
Artistic swimming competitions at the Olympic Games and World Championships adhere to the same set of rules, with the primary difference being the number of events allowed. In the Olympics, athletes can compete in the duet and team events. In contrast, the World Championships encompass a broader range, including solo, duet, team, and combination events. For both competitions, athletes must perform both technical and free routines, except for the combination routine.
Junior Meets
At the junior level, athletes participate exclusively in free routines and perform figures instead of technical routines. Events available in junior meets include solo, duet, trio (in some countries), team, and combination routines. All junior competitors are required to execute figures as part of their performance.
Novice, Intermediate, & Age Group
Novice, Intermediate, and Age Group swimmers also focus on figures rather than technical routines. In the free solo, duet, trio, or team routines, there are no restrictions on choreography, though some required elements must be incorporated. As swimmers progress from novice to intermediate to age group, the complexity of the figures and the required elements in their routines increases.
Scoring and Judging
Scores in artistic swimming are awarded by judges on a scale from 0 to 10, with increments of one-tenth of a point. A score of 10 represents a perfect performance.
Figures Event: Judges evaluate the design and control of each figure. Design accuracy involves correct positioning and seamless transitions between positions, while control considers extension, height, stability, and consistency of tempo.
Routine Judging: Judges are divided into two categories for free routines: half assess artistic impression, and the other half evaluate technical merit. For technical routines, judges examine performance based on execution and overall impression.
Artistic Impression Judges: Focus on choreography, musical interpretation, and presentation style. They assess the appearance of capability and effortlessness.
Technical Merit Judges: Evaluate execution, synchronization, and the degree of difficulty involved.
For technical routines, execution judges allocate 70% of their score to the technical elements and 30% to the overall routine. Overall impression judges consider choreography, synchronization, difficulty level, and presentation.
After the judges submit their scores, the highest and lowest scores are removed, and the remaining scores from each category are combined to create a composite score. While some competitions award medals for technical and free routines separately, most typically combine both scores for final rankings.