Sports
Synchronized swimmer finds hope after decades of exile
Athlete Bill May returns to competition years after gender ban hobbled his dreams
Bill May and partner Kanako Spendlove in performance. (Photo by Liz Corman Photography; used with permission)
Sometimes it just takes one person to initiate a major change. But it takes time. In the world of synchronized swimming, that person is Bill May.
May, who left home at age 16 to live with a host family in Santa Clara, Calif., where he could train, has for years been an advocate for male inclusion in the heretofore all-female world of the sport. And finally, there are signs that the tide is turning.
During a panel discussion at the recent International Swimming Federation (known as FINA or the Federation Internationale de Natation) congress in Ontario, Canada, longtime sports activist and Olympic swimming gold medalist, Donna de Varona, pointed out that diversity will result in growth for the aquatics community.
Synchronized swimming remains as the only FINA sport not equally represented by both sexes. As of the most recent 2016 Olympics in Rio, men are not allowed to compete in synchronized swimming events.
May started the sport by training and performing with two New York teams, the Syracuse Synchro Cats and the Oswego Lakettes. After moving to California, he tried out for the nationally renowned Santa Clara Aquamaids and earned a spot on their junior squad.
It was 1996 and as a young gay man, he was undaunted by the challenges facing him in a sport that wasn’t accepting of men. He wouldn’t be allowed to compete in most sanctioned events with his teammates because of his gender.
“I was pretty stubborn and was determined to stay in the sport I loved,” May says. “I still wanted to do it even if it meant I would never be allowed to compete in the Olympics. I took inspiration from friends on the swim team that continued to compete even though they would never make it to the Olympic level.”
May gained approval from FINA to compete in duet events in several competitions such as the 1998 Goodwill Games (silver), the 1999 Swiss Open (gold) and the 1999 French Open (gold). He was named the U.S. Synchronized Swimming Athlete of the Year in 1998 and 1999 and would go onto win the Grand Slam at the 2000 Jantzen Nationals.
Because of the lack of support he received from his own sport’s national federation, he was not allowed to compete at the 2004 Athens Olympics as they never filed for an inclusion. The President of the United States Synchronized Swimming Federation at the time, Ginny Jasontek, stated, “We cannot allow men to compete in a women’s sport.”
Bill May traveled to Athens in 2004 as a spectator to cheer on his teammates and then gracefully retired from the sport. By the next year, he was performing five days a week, two shows a night in the Las Vegas water-based production “O” by Cirque Du Soleil.
Fast-forward to November, 2014 when the news arrived that FINA had passed an inclusion to allow for the first time, two mixed-duet events at the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia. It was a major first step for a possible inclusion in future Olympics. A mad scramble ensued to reunite May with his former free routine partner, Kristina Lum Underwood, and find a new partner in Christina Jones for the technical routine.
With only eight months to train and with Underwood seven months pregnant, they had their work cut out for them. When the time came, they faced down nine teams on the world stage in Kazan with May and Jones winning the gold in the mixed-duet technical routine and May and Underwood taking the silver in the mixed-duet free routine. It was a long-awaited triumph just for May to compete in a sanctioned synchro world championships.
“After spending two weeks at the world championships, I realized that I wanted to see more mixed-duet teams competing and I wanted to see more mixed teams swimming differently than their female counterparts,” May says.
Now that the ball is rolling again, May is determined to push for mixed duets in the Olympics. He is one of many people who are working with U.S. Synchronized Swimming, FINA and the International Olympic Committee for inclusion. The 2016 Rio Olympics have passed by and the target is now for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dGXpgoIHeU
Both of May’s mixed-duet partners retired after the 2015 World Championships in Kazan and he began the search for a new partner shortly after returning to Las Vegas. He didn’t have to search far as his future duet partner had been swimming right in front of him all along.
Kanako Kitao Spendlove won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics in the synchro team competition for Japan. They had originally met at a junior open meet at the America Cup in 1996. She had been working with May at Cirque for almost 10 years and gave up her Japanese citizenship in December 2015 and became his new mixed-duet partner.
In their first competition together at the UANA Pan American Championships in Puerto Rico last September, they brought home the gold for the United States in the mixed-duet free routine. They have been named to the U.S. national synchro team through 2020.
Along with aiming for a chance to be included in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, May and Spendlove are hoping to propose new rules and requirements for mixed duets.
“The mixed-duet free program shouldn’t be judged the same way as same-sex duets. We have connections, lifts and throws that they don’t include in same-sex duets,” May says. “What we are doing takes more strength not to mention that the roles are different, as opposed to being a mirror image. We also don’t want to be a direct comparison to same-sex duets as it would be a hindrance to growth.”
A few months after their success in Puerto Rico, May and Spendlove headed to Panama to host a mixed-duet synchro clinic. It was an attempt to draw more of the Americas into the sport as it is already gaining momentum in Europe.
Currently the duo is training four hours a day, six days a week in the pool along with their duties performing with Cirque. Their next big competition is the FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in July where they will compete in both the technical and free mixed duets. Hopefully, that will bring them a step closer to inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“Both of us love this sport, love performing and want to add a new dynamic to synchro,” May says. “We want to raise the level of athleticism and artistry to new heights.”
Bill May and partner Kanako Spendlove during a training session. (Photo by Kevin Majoros)
Sports
New IOC policy bans trans women from Olympics
New regulation to be in effect at 2028 summer games in Los Angeles
The International Olympic Committee on Thursday announced it will not allow transgender women from competing in female events at the Olympics.
“For all disciplines on the Sports Program of an IOC event, including individual and team sports, eligibility for any Female Category is limited to biological females,” reads the new policy.
The policy states “eligibility for the Female Category is to be determined in the first instance by SRY Gene screening to detect the absence or presence of the SRY Gene.”
“On the basis of the scientific evidence, the IOC considers that the SRY (sex-determining Region Y) Gene is fixed throughout life and represents highly accurate evidence that an athlete has experienced or will experience male sex development,” it reads. “Furthermore, the IOC considers that SRY Gene screening via saliva, cheek swab or blood sample is unintrusive compared to other possible methods. Athletes who screen negative for the SRY gene permanently satisfy this policy’s eligibility criteria for competition in the Female Category.”
The policy states the test “will be a once-in-a-lifetime test” unless “there is reason to believe a negative reading is in error.”
The new regulation will be in place for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“I understand that this a very sensitive topic,” said IOC President Kirsty Coventry on Thursday in a video. “As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition.”
“The policy that we have announced is based on science and it has been led by medical experts with the best interests of athletes at its heart. The scientific evidence is very clear: male chromosomes give performance advances in sport that rely on strength, power, or endurance,” she added. “At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.”
(Video courtesy of the IOC)
Laurel Hubbard, a weightlifter from New Zealand, in 2021 became the first trans woman to compete at the Olympics.
Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer, won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Khelif later sued JK Rowling and Elon Musk for cyberstalking after they questioned her gender identity.
Ellis Lundholm, a mogul skier from Sweden, this year became the first openly trans athlete to compete in any Winter Olympics when he participated in Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.
President Donald Trump in February 2025 issued an executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams in the U.S.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee last July banned trans women from competing in female sporting events. Republican lawmakers have demanded the IOC ban trans athletes from women’s athletic competitions.
“I’m grateful the Olympics finally embraced the common sense policy that women’s sports are for women, not for men,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on X.
An IOC spokesperson on Thursday referred the Washington Blade to the press release that announced the new policy.
More than a dozen LGBTQ athletes won medals at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that ended on Sunday.
Cayla Barnes, Hilary Knight, and Alex Carpenter are LGBTQ members of the U.S. women’s hockey team that won a gold medal after they defeated Canada in overtime. Knight the day before the Feb. 19 match proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
French ice dancer Guillaume Cizeron, who is gay, and his partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry won gold. American alpine skier Breezy Johnson, who is bisexual, won gold in the women’s downhill. Amber Glenn, who identifies as bisexual and pansexual, was part of the American figure skating team that won gold in the team event.
Swiss freestyle skier Mathilde Gremaud, who is in a relationship with Vali Höll, an Austrian mountain biker, won gold in women’s freeski slopestyle.
Bruce Mouat, who is the captain of the British curling team that won a silver medal, is gay. Six members of the Canadian women’s hockey team — Emily Clark, Erin Ambrose, Emerance Maschmeyer, Brianne Jenner, Laura Stacey, and Marie-Philip Poulin — that won silver are LGBTQ.
Swedish freestyle skier Sandra Naeslund, who is a lesbian, won a bronze medal in ski cross.
Belgian speed skater Tineke den Dulk, who is bisexual, was part of her country’s mixed 2000-meter relay that won bronze. Canadian ice dancer Paul Poirier, who is gay, and his partner, Piper Gilles, won bronze.
Laura Zimmermann, who is queer, is a member of the Swiss women’s hockey team that won bronze when they defeated Sweden.
Outsports.com notes all of the LGBTQ Olympians who competed at the games and who medaled.
Sports
US wins Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey
Team captain Hilary Knight proposed to girlfriend on Wednesday
The U.S. women’s hockey team on Thursday won a gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime. The game took place a day after Team USA captain Hilary Knight proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
Cayla Barnes and Alex Carpenter — Knight’s teammates — are also LGBTQ. They are among the more than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes who are competing in the games.
The Olympics will end on Sunday.
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