Kenny Gaudet on male participation and criticism in sport

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The day before the International Olympic Committee decided to allow men to compete in artistic swimming at the 2024 Olympics and beyond, American Kenny Gaudet reflected on what his presence in the once all-female sport would mean for the sport. ‘coming.

“What a man can bring… I feel like what I do completes the girls: I add that strength, I support them,” the 18-year-old told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview.

“If the buck is worth being on the team and helps lift the team, [then] put it in.

The IOC’s decision was revealed by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) and will allow teams to have up to two male competitors.

Although the Olympic green light is new, men are allowed to compete in certain disciplines at World Aquatics International and World Championships. Gaudet competed in the mixed duet and men’s solo events this past international season, placing fifth at the 2022 World Aquatic Championships with partner Claudia Coletti.

The teenager has Olympic aspirations and a myriad of goals set before him, and says these achievements can only reinforce the kind of change he wants to see in the sport and what it means for him and other men to participate in it.

I think the path we’re on right now is definitely positive. I feel like I’m part of this journey, he says. I want to achieve high enough results to be able to defend and promote male equality in sport.

I’m honestly happy and proud of what I’ve done so far. But I haven’t finished. – Kenny Gaudet at Olympics.com

Kenny Gaudet on artistic swimming: I love this sport

Gaudet (pronounced gah-day), who grew up in Florida, said his family protected him as a young boy from much of the criticism he faced as a man in artistic swimming, while competing also to cheerleaders.

He said in his nearly decade in the sport that the tide has slowly turned and male swimmers are now seen in a positive light for what Gaudet sees as what all swimmers should be looked upon on: their skills and their deserved.

I was bullied growing up in school, and it really hurt me. I couldn’t stand it then, he recalls. Why do I have to explain why I’m doing something I love? I love this sport. Why do I have to explain this to you?

He continued: It definitely passed me by and I grew from it and I don’t understand [the bullying] as much now.

He and Coletti placed fifth in the mixed duet (technical and free) at Worlds in 2022, while Gaudet also competed on the world stage in men’s solo World Series events, winning 10 international medals in total.

But neither mixed duet nor men’s solo were added to the Olympic programme, instead, the aforementioned two team places (out of 10) being made available to men at the Games for each participating nation.

It’s one of her strengths, says Gaudet, to support her female teammates. It stands six feet tall and has a massive wingspan. His movements are different in the water and he is working on his basic skills with the US National Team in Los Angeles to be a more supportive member of the underwater movement.

I feel like I know there’s always more I can give and I can always improve,” said a thoughtful Gaudet. I’m not perfect. I am far from perfect. So I always want to keep fighting for that throughout my career.

Blazing trails and a friendship with Bill May

The aforementioned mixed pair community is one that Gaudet adopted as he had the opportunity to travel for the World Series and World Championships. At Worlds in 2022, 13 different countries fielded mixed duo teams from five different continents.

The mixed duet features a male competitor and a female competitor swimming side-by-side and was added to the international program by World Aquatics in 2015.

The mixed duo community is this little bubble…everyone knows each other and it’s so much fun, he explained. Meeting with [other competitors], get to know them, discover their backgrounds. It’s one of the greatest things I’ve experienced.

Another American, Bill May, was the first man to win a world artistic swimming title, in 2015. He came out in favor of the IOC’s decision earlier this week, saying the inclusion of men in sport at the Olympics was once considered the impossible dream.

Gaudet saw May as a mentor and coach, attending a junior camp May hosted in early 2019 as Gaudet began to progress nationally at the junior level. Instead of trying to emulate May’s success, Gaudet says he’s just trying to continue the work he’s done.

I remember when I met him at that junior camp, I was so nervous because he’s my idol, Gaudet said with a laugh. He’s a great leader. I really admire him.

I don’t want to copy or repeat his legacy, he added of May. I want to define mine. I want to be proud of what I swim and what I achieve. The more I show that I can perform better and do more and be better…then I can advocate more and show that’s why men can be in this sport and that’s why we should be allowed to do these things.

Kenny Gaudet: leveling up and not looking back

It was at the end of 2021 that Gaudet decided to cross the country from Florida: first to the Bay Area, then to Los Angeles, where Andrea Fuentes, the head coach of the American program, trains her team on the UCLA campus.

I was very nervous coming here because before I moved I was only spending six hours max in the pool a week… now I’m in it six days for seven to eight hours a week, he said. he shares. I was scared, but I really liked how the coaches pushed me while adapting to what I needed.

It was a big step forward for me.

Gaudet remains the only man on the national team, although there are juniors he believes are on the rise, namely Michael Chan, a 15-year-old who won the world mixed duos title last last season at the junior level.

I can’t wait to see his future and what he has in store for him,” Gaudet said of Chan. The stereotype of artistic swimming has dropped a lot. In Santa Clara, there’s a full men’s team, they’ve got enough guys for that.

It’s the kind of slow change of which Gaudet believes he is only a small part, the IOC announcement being a symbol of it.

I definitely feel like one of the… like kind of a pioneer in the sport, he said. It’s still not quite equal to the point of men in [all] the events that we can swim. I’m finally coaching the team because I get the chance to swim as a team, which I know is important for all the guys in the world.

He continued: That’s why I think all the guys in this sport are really strong, it’s like doing what we love and being in this sport. I’m proud of that.

One minute, one sport | artistic swimming

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