# Translation from French to English
At only 17 years old, Milan Violon is making a place for himself in the history of French artistic swimming. The only man selected within the French national team for the European Championships held this summer in Paris, the young swimmer participated in a long-awaited evolution in a discipline that remains overwhelmingly female.
But this sporting exposure was accompanied by a far less positive phenomenon. On social media, Milan Violon became the target of numerous sexist, discriminatory and homophobic comments, prompting the French Swimming Federation to respond publicly.
Beyond the case of one young athlete, the episode raises a broader question: why, in 2026, does the presence of a boy in a sport historically associated with women continue to be troubling?
## Milan Violon, a boy in a long-female universe
Artistic swimming was long perceived as an almost exclusively female discipline. Yet from a sporting perspective, things have been evolving for several years.
Men made their entry at the World Championships in 2015 with the mixed duo. Since then, their presence in international competitions has only continued to grow. In 2023, the Fukuoka Worlds notably organized the first-ever men’s solo events at world level.
Milan Violon belongs to this new generation.
In Paris, his selection with the French team took on particular symbolic significance: he was the only man in the French squad competing in these European Championships.
A presence that should first be considered for what it is: that of an athlete selected for his performances.
On social media, some decided otherwise.
## Sexist and homophobic insults on social media
Following the broadcast of content about the young swimmer, numerous comments attacked his masculinity, sometimes using homosexuality as an insult.
An essential distinction must be made here: these attacks are homophobic, but they say nothing about Milan Violon’s sexual orientation, which there is no reason to speculate about.
They do, however, reveal a much older mechanism.
When a boy chooses an activity still perceived as “feminine,” his masculinity and sexuality can quickly become targets of comment. The sport practiced is then no longer judged on performance, technique or commitment, but through a very traditional representation of what a boy should—or should not—do.
## The French Swimming Federation takes a stand
Facing the scale of reactions, the French Swimming Federation publicly defended Milan Violon.
It condemned the comments targeting the young athlete, describing them as “sexist, discriminatory and hateful.”
This reaction takes on particular importance when we remember that Milan is only 17 years old.
Behind a name that is beginning to appear in the media and on social networks is still an adolescent, subject to the demands of high-level sport and now confronted with new public exposure.
Cyberbullying does not become trivial on the pretext that its victim is an athlete.
## When “gay” is still used to question masculinity
The story of Milan Violon therefore extends far beyond the case of artistic swimming.
It above all reminds us that homosexuality continues sometimes to be used as a way to question the masculinity of a man or boy.
And Milan is not the first male artistic swimmer confronted with this type of prejudice.
Italian Giorgio Minisini has greatly helped to evolve the image of the discipline. He has participated in World Championships since the introduction of the mixed duo in 2015 and has won several international titles, including a world title with Lucrezia Ruggiero in 2022.
His journey, like that of other male swimmers, above all shows that the presence of men in artistic swimming is no longer a curiosity.
The way they are viewed, however, has not always evolved at the same pace.
## Men’s artistic swimming gains ground
On the international level, the movement now seems difficult to reverse.
World Aquatics already noted in 2023 that the number of men engaged in the discipline had regularly increased since their first participation in the 2015 World Championships.
Competitions now offer men’s solos, mixed duos and team events that can include male swimmers.
This evolution also brings new sporting and choreographic possibilities. Strength, lifts, acrobatics, interpretation: the arrival of men does not replace the identity of artistic swimming, it simply widens the discipline’s possibilities.
What seemed unusual just a few years ago is gradually becoming a normal component of international competitions.
And this evolution concerns not only the very highest level.
## A Nice club that already embodies this evolution
In Nice, O.N.N. Olympic Nice Natation has its own artistic swimming section.
On its website, the club acknowledges that the discipline still primarily appeals to a female audience, but notes that it “increasingly attracts boys.” Olympic Nice Natation opens the practice to them from age 4 and summarizes the prerequisite with a particularly simple formula: “loving water.”
A local reality that directly echoes Milan Violon’s journey.
In the pools, clubs like the one in Nice already help normalize the presence of boys in a discipline long considered exclusively female. Outside the water, the reactions prompted by the young French international show that certain stereotypes take longer to disappear.
On the Côte d’Azur as elsewhere, the issue ultimately goes beyond artistic swimming alone: allowing young people to choose a sport for the pleasure it gives them, their abilities and their ambitions, rather than based on disciplines traditionally associated with girls or boys.
## At 17, continue to swim
Perhaps that is ultimately what we should take away from Milan Violon’s journey.
At 17, his sporting future obviously remains to be built. It would be premature to predict how far his career could take him.
But his presence within the French team is already enough to make visible a much broader evolution.
Every boy who enters an artistic swimming pool without considering it a “girls’ sport” makes the situation a little more ordinary for the one who comes after him.
And every club that opens its doors normally to him helps erase that boundary.
Men’s artistic swimming doesn’t need to prove that it is sufficiently “masculine” to be legitimate. Swimmers simply need to be judged for their work, their technique and their performances in the water.
At 17, Milan Violon is already contributing, intentionally or not, to advancing this truth.
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