Instagram's Swim Artist

Poulis raises interest in artistic swimming with eye-opening routines on social media

- Kimberly Kwek

A glance at Zoe Poulis' Instagram page offers a window into her love for water.

The artistic swimmer not only shares her routines in the pool, but also showcases her creativity in unique ways.

In one video, she moves gracefully against the stunning backdrop of the Great Barrier Reef, while in another, she defies gravity by "walking" on the surface of the water with luggage in tow.

What started out as a fun hobby has turned into a bigger mission to raise awareness about her sport as her videos have gained traction, with the 19-year-old amassing a following of over 150,000 on the social media platform.

"All I was doing at the time was swimming, posting a bunch of different artistic swimming videos, underwater videos," said Poulis, after completing her routine in the preliminary round of the women's solo technical event at the World Aquatics Championships (WCH) on July 18.

"I find that interesting, all the questions that people ask turned into trying to shine a spotlight on artistic swimming for sure, especially in Australia."

In the first event of the 2025 world championships held at the newly built WCH Arena, Poulis missed out on the women's solo technical final after placing 19th with 220.3541 points.