U.S. artistic swimming locked in its core early for Los Angeles 2028.
U.S. artistic swimming has begun the most important phase of preparations for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games much earlier than is usual in an Olympic cycle. USA Artistic Swimming announced that it has named the Olympic training squad for the period from 2026 to 2028, thereby, according to the federation’s announcement, narrowing the group of athletes who will prepare to compete in the home pool. The decision comes after the silver medal won at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the first Olympic medal for the United States in this sport after two decades. With this, the American federation clearly indicated that it does not want to view the success from Paris as an isolated result, but as the foundation of a multi-year project aimed at another podium finish.
According to the announcement by USA Artistic Swimming, the new group was presented as the beginning of a project called “LA’s Team”, that is, a team that will develop with the aim of competing at the Olympic Games in front of the home crowd. The federation emphasized that no new athletes will be added to the training squad during this period, which means that the focus is being placed on continuity, joint work and the long-term creation of competitive chemistry. Such an approach also carries a certain risk because the selection is being narrowed more than two years before the Games themselves, but the American side believes that stability is precisely the key in a sport in which the result is not based only on individual quality. In artistic swimming, synchronization, technical precision, understanding of routines, speed of adaptation and trust among team members are decisive. For that reason, the decision to lock in the core early can be interpreted as an attempt to make maximum use of the time until Los Angeles.
Thirteen athletes in the group for the Olympic cycle
According to a report by the specialized portal Inside Synchro, the selection process was held from May 1 to 3, 2026, and from an initial pool of 20 athletes, 13 were selected for the official Olympic training squad. Anita Alvarez, Jaime Czarkowski, Ruby Remati, Natalia Vega, Daniella Ramirez, Nikki Dzurko, Kanako Field, Ghizal Akbar, Elle Santana, Emma Moore, AnaMaria Camero, Jacklyn Zhuge and David Llorente Fernandez were included in the group. The selection is especially important because this group, according to available information, will train together over the next two years in Los Angeles.
The group includes athletes with Olympic experience, but also younger competitors who are only just entering the senior international elite. Inside Synchro states that four members of the American team that won silver in Paris also competed for a place in the group: Daniella Ramirez, Anita Alvarez, Jaime Czarkowski and Ruby Remati. Alvarez is the most experienced name among them and her appearance in Los Angeles, if she earns selection, would represent the possibility of a fourth Olympic appearance. New names also appear in the same program, among whom David Llorente Fernandez particularly stands out, as he is preparing for international appearances in solo and mixed duet events. This combination of experience and youth gives the American staff a broader choice in developing routines, but it requires careful management of differences in age, experience and competitive roles.
Why early selection matters in artistic swimming
An early narrowing of the list of athletes might seem unusual in some sports, but in artistic swimming it has a clear logic. Teams must develop a shared sense of rhythm, precise spatial orientation and the ability to perform complex elements under heavy physical strain. Any change in the composition can affect the height of throws, positions in formations, the length of breath-holding and safety during acrobatic elements. The American selection process, according to Inside Synchro’s description, included assessments of basic skills, individual and group performances, interviews, acrobatic checks and tasks in which athletes had to quickly learn and perform new choreography.
The part related to quickly learning new choreographic elements is especially important. In modern artistic swimming, teams must be ready to change the difficulty, order and execution of routines between phases of competition. The new judging system has increased the importance of strategy, because the difficulty of declared elements must be confirmed by execution in the water. A mistake does not only mean an aesthetic deduction, but can directly reduce the value of the routine if judges conclude that the declared difficulty was not performed. That is why, for a national team aiming for an Olympic medal, it is crucial to have athletes who can quickly absorb changes, retain details and remain stable in execution under pressure. The American staff clearly wants such abilities to develop within the same circle of athletes throughout the entire cycle.
The silver from Paris changed expectations
The United States won the silver medal in the team event in Paris 2024, behind China and ahead of Spain, according to official Olympic results and World Aquatics data. It was the first American Olympic medal in artistic swimming since Athens 2004, when the United States won two bronzes. The result from Paris carried additional weight because the American team, after a longer period, once again became a serious podium candidate in a discipline that has been dominated in recent decades by Asian and European national teams. Team USA emphasized after the Paris performance that it was the first medal in this sport for the American program after 20 years. In a sporting sense, the silver changed the measure of success: Los Angeles 2028 is no longer only an opportunity for a good home performance, but a test of whether the breakthrough from Paris can be turned into lasting competitiveness.
The Paris result was also connected with the visibility of the American team beyond the narrow circle of artistic swimming followers. The performances of the American team, including attractive underwater and acrobatic elements, attracted great attention on social networks and in international media. According to the official standings, China won gold, the United States silver and Spain bronze in the team event, which shows that the American team was the best among the national teams trying to follow Chinese dominance. In that context, Los Angeles 2028 represents an opportunity, but also a burden. Expectations will be higher, and the competition will have enough time to analyze the American model and adapt its own programs.
Los Angeles brings a home advantage and different pressure
World Aquatics announced that artistic swimming at the Los Angeles Olympic Games will be held in the second half of the Games, from July 25 to 29, 2028, at the Long Beach Aquatics Center. According to the same source, the program includes team and duet events, and the total quota for artistic swimming is 96 athletes. Ten teams are planned for the team event, while 18 pairs will compete in the duet. World Aquatics also states that the United States, as host, is automatically qualified for the team and duet. This fact gives the American program planning security, because it does not have to fight for an Olympic quota through the qualification process, but at the same time it increases responsibility. The host will have a guaranteed appearance, but a team coming after silver from Paris will be expected to be among the main medal candidates.
According to the qualification system published by World Aquatics, the road to Los Angeles for other national teams begins in 2027 at the World Championships in Budapest and continental championships, and ends at the Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final in 2028. For the United States, these competitions will have a different function: they will be an opportunity to test routines, check the difficulty of elements and compare with rivals that will simultaneously be fighting for quotas. Precisely because of this, the decision to form the group early gains additional weight, because it enables the national team to spend most of the cycle in a stable composition.
Changes in the sport require different athlete profiles
In recent years, artistic swimming has been changing toward greater technical complexity, more pronounced acrobatics and clearer evaluation of element difficulty. It is a sport that requires competitors to combine endurance, explosiveness, flexibility, breath control, musicality and precise execution in formation. The new scoring system has further increased the importance of strategic routine planning, because teams must find a balance between a high degree of difficulty and execution security. An overly ambitious routine can bring a high starting value, but also major losses if the elements are not performed as declared. A routine with too little risk can be clean, but insufficient for a medal in competition with China, Spain, Japan, Ukraine, Italy and other strong programs. The American selection of 13 athletes should therefore also be viewed as the selection of profiles capable of withstanding the new rhythm of the sport.
In that sense, it is interesting that the selection tests also included elements of independent choreography and tasks in which athletes had to show their own strengths. Such an approach suggests that the American staff is not looking only for performers of assigned routines, but for athletes who understand how a routine is built, why certain elements are chosen and how their own abilities can be turned into a competitive advantage. In artistic swimming, that can be decisive because the boundary between technical execution and artistic impression is increasingly complemented by tactical decisions. If an athlete understands difficulty, risk and judging logic, it is easier to adapt to changes in the routine. For a national team that will work for two years within the same circle, that can be an important long-term advantage.
The experience of Anita Alvarez and the new generation
Anita Alvarez remains one of the most recognizable names in American artistic swimming. Her experience stretches across several Olympic cycles, and the Paris silver further strengthened her role in a program that wants to confirm itself in Los Angeles. According to Inside Synchro, after the selection process Alvarez emphasized that she was proud of the direction in which USA Artistic Swimming is developing and of the way in which the selection process was organized. Such statements are important because they come from an athlete who has gone through different phases of the American program and can compare the current model with earlier attempts to build the national team. At the same time, the group includes male and female athletes who are still young enough for junior competition, which gives the program developmental breadth toward 2028 and the period after those Games.
The generational range can be an advantage if the staff manages to turn it into a shared work culture. Older members bring experience from major competitions, understanding of pressure and stability in preparation. Younger members bring energy, adaptability and the possibility of being shaped over the next two years according to the demands of the senior elite. In a team sport performed without the possibility of communication during the routine, mutual trust has direct competitive value. If it develops in time, the team can more easily endure mistakes, changes and the stress of major competitions. That is why the American project for Los Angeles is not only a matter of a list of names, but a matter of creating a system in which different career phases can fit into a common goal.
The competition will not wait for Los Angeles
Although the American program has gained strong momentum, international competition remains extremely demanding. China confirmed its status as the leading national team in Paris by winning gold in the team event, while European national teams continue to have a broad base and strong competitive systems. Spain won bronze in Paris, Great Britain took silver in the duet, and the Netherlands bronze in the duet, according to official Olympic results. World Aquatics, in its reports on Olympic qualifications, emphasizes continental representation and multiple qualification opportunities, which means that a broad international field will develop toward Los Angeles. For the United States, the home appearance will be an advantage, but not a guarantee of results.
The American federation therefore has a relatively clear calculation: use the secure Olympic position as host, keep the core together and by 2028 develop routines that can withstand comparison with the best. According to Inside Synchro, the newly formed group is already continuing the season through appearances at the final stops of the World Cup, including Pontevedra and the Super Final in Toronto. These appearances will not have the same status as the Olympic competition, but they will be important indicators of the direction in which the team is moving. Every international outing will enable comparison of difficulty, stability and judges’ reactions. For athletes who have only just entered the broader Olympic core, it will also be an opportunity to adapt to senior pressure before preparations enter the final phase.
From a Paris surprise to a planned project
The biggest change for American artistic swimming may not be only the winning of silver, but the way expectations are being managed after that result. A program that once again won an Olympic medal in Paris is now trying to act like a national team that belongs at the top, not like an occasional challenger. The early naming of the group sends a message to athletes, coaches and competitors that Los Angeles 2028 is not being viewed as a distant goal, but as a process that has already begun. In that process, daily training, athletes’ health, choreography development and the ability to prevent the Paris success from becoming pressure that blocks progress will be crucial. Two years before appearing in the home pool, the United States has decided that it will not broaden the search, but deepen the work with the selected group.
Such a decision does not guarantee a medal, but it gives the American program a clear structure. Athletes know with whom they will train, coaches can build routines long-term, and the federation can develop the project communicationally and organizationally around the team that will represent the Games host. Los Angeles will bring a special stage: artistic swimming will be in the final part of the Olympic program, and the team final is scheduled for July 29, 2028, according to World Aquatics data. If the American national team manages by then to maintain continuity, increase the difficulty of routines and preserve stability of execution, the silver from Paris could become the beginning of a longer period of return to the world elite. Until then, every training session and every competition will serve the same test: can “LA’s Team” build a result that will confirm in the home pool that the breakthrough from Paris was not accidental.
Sources:
- USA Artistic Swimming – announcement on naming the Olympic training squad for the 2026-2028 period and the “LA’s Team” project (link)
- Inside Synchro – details of the selection process, the list of 13 athletes and the context of preparations for Los Angeles 2028 (link)
- World Aquatics – qualification system for artistic swimming at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and competition schedule (link)
- Olympics.com – official artistic swimming results at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (link)
- Team USA – report on the American team’s silver medal in Paris and first medal after 20 years (link)