Men's Synchronized Swimming

Photo: Men's Synchronized Swimming from Harry Shearer: Now You See It - via VideoSift

Despite all the talk about gender equality, there are still glaring examples of gender discrimination at the Olympic Games. Take, for instance, the missing sport of Men's Synchronized Swimming:

Male synchronized swimming has had a charming existence in popular culture. It's lampooned on cruise ship comedy nights. "Men Who Swim," a quirky documentary about an all-male swim team in Stockholm, premiered on PBS this year. The sport was immortalized by Harry Shearer and Martin Short on "Saturday Night Live" in this inescapable sketch ...

But in the last decade, men have started participating in synchronized swimming sans irony. Kenyon Smith made headlines in 2008 as an 18-year-old star in the sport, competing on a team called the Aquamaids with, and against, women. He attempted to become an Olympian for the 2008 Beijing Games, according to a profile in Details magazine.

Some male athletes compete on majority-female teams, there are also all-male synchronized teams around the world, including the San Francisco Tsunami — "a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight-friendly masters-level swim and synchronized swim team" — and the Out to Swim Angels ... Billed as Britain's only men's synchronized swim team, they're kicking-mad about being unable to represent their nation at the London Games.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo's Fourth-Place Medal sports blog has more : Link