When Yotaro Sato first dipped his toes into artistic swimming at the age of 6 after being influenced by his sister, he was in his own little world — and he couldn’t have cared less about being the only boy in the pool.
But as he got older, some of his friends questioned his choice of sport. He has been told, time and again and in so many ways, that artistic swimming — a sport that combines water acrobatics with music — is not “manly.”
Despite the misconception that it’s a female-only sport, Sato stayed the course. Today, the 21-year-old University of Tsukuba junior is aiming to make it to the 2028 Los Angeles Games and become the first male artistic swimmer to represent Japan at the Olympics.
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