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1907--Annette
Kellerman performed in a glass tank and attracted national attention
at the New York Hippodrome as the first underwater ballerina.
1923--Katherine
Curtis starts a water ballet club at the University of Chicago.
The group executes strokes and floating formations.
1934--Sixty
of Curtis' swimmers, the Modern Mermaids, performed in the lagoon
at the Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago.
1940--Esther
Williams popularizes water ballet with her performances in the
San Francisco Worlds Fair Aquacade and MGM movies.
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Esther
Williams
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| 1954--FINA,
the international aquatics federation, is formed. FINA makes synchronized
swimming a competitive division of aquatics.
1956--Synchronized
swimmers from Athens Club of Oakland California, demonstrate at
the Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.
1984--Synchronized
swimming premieres at the XXIII Olympics in Los Angeles. Tracie
Ruiz and Candy Costie win the first Olympic medals in the duet
event. Ruiz captures a gold medal in the solo event.
1992--At
the XXV Olympiad in Barcelona, Spain, the U.S. team sweeps gold
medals in both the solo and duet events. Kristen Babb-Sprague
is crowned solo champion. Karen and Sarah Josephson dominate the
duet competition to win their first-ever Olympic gold medals.
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Karen
and Sarah Josephson
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1996--In
the team event's premier at the 1996 Olympic Games, the USA performs
flawlessly. After winning the technical routine portion, the USA's
free routine "Fantasia on an Orchestra" captivates the audience
and judges. The USA receives a perfect score of 100 in the free
routine to earn the first Olympic gold medal in team competition.
Quoted from usasynchro.org
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