In honor of synchronized swimming at the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games, Google is celebrating with its 10th consecutive, unique Doodle. The Doodle depicts a team of eight synchronized swimmers in a circular formation, replacing the first O of the Google logo, which floats in the pool.
Today’s Doodle is the second one to depict Olympic synchronized swimming. The first one appeared during the Athens 2004 games.
Synchronized swimming is one of two sports that’s exclusive to women athletes during the Olympics, the other being rhythmic gymnastics. Synchronized swimming features swimming mixed with dance and gymnastics that’s performed to music playing from underwater speakers. The Olympics synchronized swimming, which is considered to be the most glamorous of all the sports, feature duets or teams of eight swimmers who perform short routines.
The rules of synchronized swimming dictate that athletes can’t wear transparent swimsuits. Swimmers also cannot wear goggles or other additional clothing, but a nose clip made of hard plastic or wire with thin rubber coating is allowed.
There are 104 participants for the two synchronized medal events during the London 2012 games. Only eight countries will participate in both events, while the remaining 16 countries will only compete in the duets competition.
Written by: Karen Benardello
