Synchronized swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics

Synchronized swimming at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad
Georgia Tech Aquatic Center
Venue	Georgia Tech Campus Recreation Center
Dates	30 July – 2 August
Competitors	78 from 8 nations
Winning points	99.720
Medalists
01 !  United States (USA) Suzannah Bianco, Tammy Cleland, Becky Dyroen-Lancer, Heather Pease, Jill Savery, Nathalie Schneyder, Heather Simmons-Carrasco, Jill Sudduth, Emily Lesueur, Margot Thien 02 !  Canada (CAN) Karen Clark, Sylvie Fréchette, Janice Bremner, Karen Fonteyne, Christine Larsen, Erin Woodley, Cari Read, Lisa Alexander, Valérie Hould-Marchand, Kasia Kulesza 03 !  Japan (JPN) Miya Tachibana, Akiko Kawase, Rei Jimbo, Miho Takeda, Raika Fujii, Miho Kawabe, Junko Tanaka, Riho Nakajima, Mayuko Fujiki, Kaori Takahashi
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01 !		United States (USA) Suzannah Bianco, Tammy Cleland, Becky Dyroen-Lancer, Heather Pease, Jill Savery, Nathalie Schneyder, Heather Simmons-Carrasco, Jill Sudduth, Emily Lesueur, Margot Thien
02 !		Canada (CAN) Karen Clark, Sylvie Fréchette, Janice Bremner, Karen Fonteyne, Christine Larsen, Erin Woodley, Cari Read, Lisa Alexander, Valérie Hould-Marchand, Kasia Kulesza
03 !		Japan (JPN) Miya Tachibana, Akiko Kawase, Rei Jimbo, Miho Takeda, Raika Fujii, Miho Kawabe, Junko Tanaka, Riho Nakajima, Mayuko Fujiki, Kaori Takahashi

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, only the team event in synchronized swimming was contested, whereas previous Olympics had featured a solo and duet event. The duet would return to the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Eight countries qualified for the Olympic Games at an Olympic qualifying event held in conjunction with the 1995 FINA Synchronized Swimming World Cup. Each team consisted of eight swimmers (chosen from a total team of ten). The competition included two events, the technical routine program and the free routine program. The compulsory figures event, which was part of the Olympic Games since 1984, was dropped.

The technical routine required entries to perform a series of required elements in prescribed order. It had a time limit of two minutes and 50 seconds. Music selection and limited choreography was up to the discretion of each team. In the free routine, there were no specifications for the routine other than the five-minute time limit. In both the technical and free routines, a panel of 10 judges (five giving scores for technical merit and five awarding scores for artistic impression) awarded points from 0 to 10 in one tenth point increments.

When the technical merit and artistic impression scores were calculated for a total score, the technical routine score was weighted to 35 percent and the free routine to 65 percent. These two scores were then combined to determine overall medal placement.

All times are Beijing Standard Time UTC+8