한국 아티스틱스위밍의 변천 과정

초록

Purpose: This study explores the introduction of artistic swimming in Korea and examines the historical development of sport’s competitive culture.Method: We conducted interviews with five individuals who were either leaders responsible for introducing artistic swimming to Korea or members of the first generation of athletes who have subsequently become national coaches. Additionally, we reviewed the performance records of athletes in various international competitions following the sport’s introduction. Based on this investigation, we reached the following conclusions.Results: The introduction of Korean artistic swimming commenced with the physical activities of the “Underwater Dance Club,” which was established in 1968 by YMCA mother swimming members and experienced rapid growth following the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The period from 1989 to 2002 is frequently referred to as the golden age of artistic swimming, characterized by notable performance in various international competitions. However, the sports subsequently experienced a decline due to reduced government funding for elite sports, insufficient goal orientation and professionalism among coaches, and failures in talent scouting and inadequacies in talent scouting and expanding the participant base.Despite these challenges, stakeholders maintained their commitment and initiated a program to develop competitive athletes for international competition, beginning with the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju. This initiative yielded positive outcomes at the 2024 Doha World Aquatics Championships, where artistic swimming demonstrated signs of resurgence, achieving a 6th place finish in the solo-free routine and 11th place in the duet-free routine, thus continuing its legacy as a lesser-known sport.Conclusion: This study examined the development of artistic swimming in Korea within its cultural and social context. Future research should incorporate interviews with coaches and athletes from the post-2000 period, during which the sport experienced a decline, to provide a more comprehensive and objective analysis of the factors contributing to this stagnation.

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