Anastasia Kusmawan

As a child growing up in Werribee, on the outskirts of Melbourne, Anastasia Kusmawan loved swimming and gymnastics. Nadia Comaneci, the legendary Romanian gymnast who won five gold medals at the Montreal and Moscow Olympics, was her sporting hero.

Then, at the age of seven she discovered a sport that brought together her two first loves. “Synchro was the perfect combination of the two,” Anastasia said.

From then on synchronised swimming – or artistic swimming, as it is now known – became her passion. “I genuinely loved the sport and always aspired to reach the level of my idols within the sport,” she said.

Anastasia competed in her first Australian championships in 2014 as a nine-year-old. In 2020, she won the Barbara Schembri Perpetual Trophy, awarded to the highest score from an athlete aged 13 to 15 at the Victorian State Championships.

At the 2023 World Aquatic Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, Anastasia was part of the Australian team that qualified for the Paris Olympics with a top-10 finish in the Team Free.

They produced another top-10 finish at the 2024 world championships in Doha.

And there was marked improvement at the World Aquatics Cup in Beijing in April 2024, with Anastasia and the team winning silver medals in the free and technical categories and bronze in the acrobatic.

In a dazzling display of aquatic artistry and athleticism at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Australia's Artistic Swimming Team captivated audiences with their technical, free and acrobatic routines to place ninth overall on 728.4358 points.

The team’s technical routine, inspired by a jungle adventure and set to Hans Zimmer's "Volcano," was meticulously executed. Scoring 235.9071 points and no base marks.

The team’s free routine, themed around the world of "Avatar" and set to music from "Avatar: The Way of Water," showcased a powerful and imaginative display that scored 280.5521 overall.

Their vibrant acrobatic routine, celebrating cheerleading with Alvaro Rodriguez Alvarez's "Move Your Body," demonstrated both enthusiasm and precision to earn a score of 211.9766.