A performer to the core, May eventually drifted toward the circus. After Athens, he moved to perform with Cirque du Soleil in its water-based production “O”. It was still doing what he loved most, just in a different venue, and May floated along happily for a decade. Then, on November 29, 2014, he received a life-changing phone call just as he was finishing a show.

Men would be allowed to compete in artistic swimming at the 2015 world championships, he was told. May didn’t need any time to contemplate the implications. He dropped the phone and ran into the hallway, where he met his duet partner Christina Jones, and melted into tears.

“Not even a doubt, a blink of the eye,” he says when asked if he hesitated to recommit to competition. “It was, boom. We’re going back, we’re training. We started training right away.”

With Jones as his partner in the mixed duet technical routine and Lum, now a mom of two, pairing with him in the mixed duet free, May made a triumphant debut at the world championships, winning gold in the technical and silver in the free. He was back in 2017, where he took two bronzes. He took part in 2019 and a pandemic-modified virtual event in 2021.

Against the odds, he had done it all — well, almost. Just before Christmas last year came another bit of news: men would be allowed to compete in artistic swimming at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. That was something May had advocated tirelessly for as a member of the World Aquatics athletes committee. What May had once deemed “the impossible dream” was going to come true. The last closed doors had been thrown open.

After worlds, the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, this fall will serve as the first Olympic qualifier.

The possibilities for May, once so restricted, now seem endless. In some ways, that’s a reward for his years of work.

“It’s a statement,” he says of his and other men’s participation at the world championships and the Olympics. “It’s a statement saying our sport is moving into the whole inclusive future of all sports. And I think you’re seeing a different look of the sport that does include men and women. It’s not ‘men are better’ or ‘women are better’. They’re complementing each other to create this really strong, athletic sport that’s inclusive to all genders.”

Bill May Has Set His Sights On Paris 2024

Loading...

Loading...