How Do Women Artistic Swimmers Keep Their Makeup on Underwater?

The 2024 Paris Olympic artistic swimming team is elite at waterproof makeup.

The USA Olympic team — which includes Keana Hunter, Anita Alvarez, Daniella Ramirez, Megumi Field, Jamie Czarkowski, Audrey Kwon, Jacklyn Luu and Calista Liu — proved to master the art of underwater makeup during the Team Technical Routine competition on Monday, August 5.

For the competition, the women donned a full beat including foundation, black winged eyeliner, manicured eyebrows and dark red lips. The athletes slicked their hair back into a bun using Knox Gelatine.

Last month, Hunter, 20, Ramirez, 22, and Alvarez, 27, opened up to Vogue about their long-lasting look.

“Since the judges and audience are so far away, we like to do a bold black eyeliner with a nice red lipstick,” Alvarez explained, noting that her go-to stain is from Makeup Forever. “We’re looking for something that will hold up in the water, through happy tears when celebrating on the podium, and everything in between.”

The underwater makeup game has come a long way, with artistic swimmers previously using chapstick under their eyeshadow to keep the look in place. “Competition makeup isn’t a big secret like people may think. We just look for waterproof makeup,” Alvarez told Vogue.

When it comes to their hair, Hunter told the outlet their “signature” hairstyle is “a tight braided bun, which needs a lot of hair ties, bobby pins and hairnets.”

They coat knox into their locks while it’s still hot and “the consistency of honey.”

Ramierez often demonstrates how she removes the knox from her hair via social media through ASMR “peelies.” In the clips, she can be seen peeling the gelatin from her ears and combing it out of her hair.

In June, she shared that she uses the L’Oréal Paris Fresh Wear Foundation and Full Wear Concealer while performing. “When I’m getting in the water for competition, the last thing I want is a patchy look of foundation coming off,” she said, gushing about the procuts. “I now never have to worry about my face card declining 💁🏼‍♀️. MAJOR SLAY!”