- Funding for staff at the Artistic Swimming National Centre of Excellence in Perth
- $225,000 for this financial year and the next
- Artistic swimming and hockey are the only national high performance sport centres based in WA
- Public can watch the Australian Olympic Team in Perth in an Artistic Swimming Display before they head to Paris
The sport of artistic swimming has received a funding boost to employ a High Performance Manager and a Wellbeing Manager.
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, based in 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 26 July. Four members of the squad hail from WA – Hannah Burkhill, Natalia Caloiero, Raphaelle Gauthier and Alessandra Ho.
Western Australians have an opportunity to watch the Australian Olympic Team in an Artistic Swimming Display on 29 June between 1pm and 2pm at HBF Stadium, Mount Claremont, before the team heads to Paris.
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.
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.
As stated by Sport and Recreation Minister David Templeman:
“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.”
