Australia's Zoe Pulis aims to raise interest in artistic swimming with stunning routines on social media
SINGAPORE – A glance at Zoe Poulis' Instagram page offers a window into her love for water.
The artistic swimmer not only shares her routines in the pool, but also showcases her creativity in unique ways.
In one video, she moves gracefully against the stunning backdrop of the Great Barrier Reef, while in another, she defies gravity by 'walking' on the surface of the water with a luggage in tow.
What started out as a fun hobby has turned into a bigger mission to raise awareness about her sport as her videos have gained traction, with the 19-year-old amassing a following of over 150,000 on the social media platform.
'All I was doing at the time was swimming, posting a bunch of different artistic swimming videos, underwater videos,' said Poulis, after completing her routine in the preliminary round of the women's solo technical event at the World Aquatics Championships (WCH) on July 18.
'I find that interesting, all the questions that people ask turned into trying to shine a spotlight on artistic swimming for sure, especially in Australia.'
In the first event of the 2025 world championships to be held at the newly built WCH Arena, Poulis missed out on the women's solo technical final after placing 19th with 220.3541.
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However, she will be back in the pool in Singapore for the women's solo free, and team technical and acrobatic events.
China's Xu Huiyan, who is eyeing her first world title, topped the 35-swimmer standings with a score of 265.8984, ahead of neutral athlete Vasilina Khandoshka (254.8200) and Spain's Iris Tio Casas (253.7691). Singapore's Rachel Thean was 20th with a score of 215.9750.
Singaporean artistic swimmer Rachel Thean competing in the women's solo technical event at the World Aquatics Championships on July 18.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
As her presence on social media grows, Poulis also enjoys interacting with followers who are keen to find out about the intricacies of artistic swimming.
She said: 'I hope people can really see the effort that goes behind that – we train countless hours, six, seven days a week, seven hours in the pool. So much work goes into these two-minute routines and every single second of the routine matters, everything counts.'
Her content has led to meaningful interactions. One standout moment for Poulis came at the Australian Artistic Swimming National Championships in April, when she crossed paths with aspiring athletes, reminding her of her early days in the sport.
From competing in her first solo routine at seven, Poulis has come a long way, recording top-10 finishes in the team free events at the 2023 and 2024 world championships. She also made her Olympic debut at the Paris Games, where Australia placed ninth.
She said: 'That was the most passionate I've felt so far about the sport in the sense that we were competing in front of all these younger generations of girls and boys.
'They follow what we do online and connecting with them more, interacting with them so much at nationals was a huge thing for me and it really took me back to when I was first starting out and looking up at the girls that were older than me on the Olympic teams.'
In the women's duet technical preliminary round, Austria's Anna-Maria Alexandri and her sister Eirini-Marina, who are part of a triplet, topped the 39-pair standings after scoring 305.1684.
Their sister Vasiliki, the oldest of the triplets, also competed on the same day, finishing fourth in the solo technical event with 250.9533.
In the duet technical, Anna-Maria and Eirini-Marina were followed by Chinese twins Lin Yanhan and Lin Yanjun (301.0933) and neutral athletes Mayya Doroshko and Tatiana Gayday (297.0033).
Singapore's Debbie Soh and Yvette Chong came in 17th with a personal best of 243.6826.
Singaporean artistic swimmers Yvette Chong (left) and Debbie Soh competing in the women's duet technical event at the World Aquatics Championships on July 18.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Soh, who is competing at her eighth world championships, said the pair received a boost before competing after their coach told them that judges and technical controllers have seen a big improvement in their performances over the last few years.
The 27-year-old said: 'We made some mistakes that we could see even under water. But we'll continue working – it's only our second year working together and I think it's quite promising.'
Yvette, 17, was pleased with the personal best. She said: 'It shows that all the hard work we've put in has paid off. It's even more special because it's on home ground.'
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