Ravens, Witches, and Swimming Pools

One team wore bathing suits decorated with a picture of what appeared to be an owl dressed in a tuxedo. Another began its routine with the athletes lying, inert, by the side of the pool. And in an homage to the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, a third team, the synchronized swimming duet from Italy, tried to imagine how it might look to descend into madness while performing intricate leg maneuvers upside down in an Olympic swimming pool. “We imagine there is a mirror, and she is getting ready, and then she goes crazy.”

In case you missed it on TV, here’s a wonderful recap of yesterday’s women’s synchronized swimming competition. It just keeps getting better (“we pretended to make pistols with our hands”). Here are a few more more pictures of the winning duo.