USA Synchro is now USA Artistic Swimming, a rebrand launched March 2 to realign the NGB with the rest of the world. 

The move comes 2.5 years after the International Federation for Artistic Swimming made the change, and months ahead of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The hope is the additional spotlight from the Summer Games will draw greater attention to the sport and the new name will better fit the athletes’ abilities and feats.

“We knew this needed to be done in order to eliminate confusion on the international level, but also to reposition ourselves within the sport to showcase  how talented our athletes are,” says USA Artistic Swimming CEO Adam Andrasko, a Connect Sports Game Changer in 2019.

Andrasko took over at the NGB in 2019 after serving as a director at USA Field Hockey. In late 2018, Andrea Fuentes was named the national coach. The organization required time to adapt to the new personnel before making such a large change as a rebrand, Andrasko explains.

The name change was first floated at the NGB’s annual convention and ultimately approved following compelling third-party research about matching up with the rest of the world.

Coinciding—or should we say synchronized with—the rebrand is a new campaign, “We Move as One.” “Long gone are the days of water ballet,” says Andrasko. “This is where athleticism meets artistry.” 

Ultimately, the goal is to increase participation in the sport—the same as each NGB has. While there is no exact number of percent increase Andrasko is looking at, he is counting on a bounce from the Olympic hype.

The national team’s duet hopeful pair—Olympians Anita Alvarez and Lindi Schroeder—will participate in a media summit and be featured on “The Today Show” as part of a special 100 days prior to the games.

Andrasko says the NGB’s events won’t change—the name of the events and performances will remain the same. And with this campaign and rebrand, the NGB hopes to increase the ranger of athletes it pulls from.

“We hope to connect with athletes of like sports because artistic swimming is really a combination of dance, cheer, swimming and gymnastics with a huge emphasis on team,” says Andrasko.