Men on a mission to showcase 'beautiful' and 'difficult' sport

When Ranjuo Tomblin first dipped his toes into artistic swimming in 2017, some of his friends questioned his choice of sport.

- Kimberly Kwek

Despite the scepticism, the Briton stayed the course. Over time, those friends came around and now support the 19-year-old's endeavours.

At 15, Tomblin became the first male artistic swimmer to represent Britain internationally when he competed at the 2021 European Junior Championships.

Since then, he has pushed the boundaries in a discipline traditionally viewed as a women's sport, achieving success at the European level and on the World Cup circuit.

He said: "It's not a well-known sport. It's not the usual football, rugby, which in Britain are quite common.

"At the beginning, my friends were a bit - I wouldn't say not accepting - but just a bit like 'that's a bit weird' and stuff like that.

"But as I've gone through the years, gotten those results, I feel like it's definitely more accepted by my friends."

Tomblin's journey is not an isolated one, but part of a larger transformation in artistic swimming as it gradually began embracing male participation.

The pivotal moment came in 2015, when the World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia, introduced mixed duets - the first time male athletes competed at the global level.