Going Virtual to Create A New Event Called Virtual Artistic Swimming B Y B AY L E E R O B I N S O N , E V E N T S & M E M B E R S H I P D I R E C T O R , U S A A R T I S T I C S W I M M I N G
Looking back at 2020 and what we all went through is overwhelming, but it also shows how resilient the sport industry can be. Last year was full of planning, cancelling, planning again, moving, postponing and transitioning into a virtual world. To say 2020 was stressful and exhausting is an understatement of the year, it was so much more. It was devastating to watch but looking back now I can see how successful we all really were.
USA Artistic Swimming (USAAS) went through a lot of same struggles but as a unique sport we were able to create a unique competition opportunity, Virtual Artistic Swimming. We never thought COVID-19 would last as long as it did and we wanted to provide our athletes a light at the end of a dark tunnel. Our athletes had now gone over a year without an in-person event and the motivation to keep training without a goal is mentally and physically discouraging. With a little creativity and teamwork USAAS was able to host its first Virtual Artistic Swimming Competition.
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Artistic swimming is a unique sport and because athletes are judged with no head-to-head competition, virtual events were a realistic opportunity. The initial struggle was that a virtual event didn’t have a rule book and there was no one to turn to, so we created the rule book. We created rules for how teams should record their routines, how music should be imported and how routines needed to be submitted. We created a platform that allowed for fair scoring that provided judges with a clear view of the routine, with high quality and from the comfort of their own home. And then, we had to put it
