NEW YORK — Bill May chuckles at the mere mention of the words ''Saturday Night Live,'' knowing that the conversation is about to turn to the TV show's 1984 skit starring Martin Short as one of two brothers attempting to make it to the Olympics in what then was called synchronized swimming.
If you want to laugh, too, go ahead and Google the mockumentary-style 4 1/2 minutes, which include Short's character earnestly looking into the camera and admitting, ''I don't swim," and show him wearing an orange life vest in the pool. It's satire, of course, and a sign of the long-ago times: They were poking fun at the mere idea of male participants in that then-women-only sport, which now is known as artistic swimming and changed the rules so men can compete at the Summer Games.
The first opportunity arrives in Paris this August, and May, a 45-year-old who lives in California, hopes to take advantage. He'll find out on Friday whether he is one of the eight athletes (plus one alternate) picked by a five-person panel to be on the U.S. roster for the team event.
He has zero issues with what ''SNL'' did 40 years ago. Anything that draws attention to his life's focus is fine by him. Indeed, May would love to meet Short at some point. Maybe even throw a couple of floaties on him and jump in the pool together.
''It's hilarious. That lightheartedness is really what acknowledges a sport,'' May said. ''It may look silly, but it's also saying, ‘OK, you know it does take time; you can't just walk in and do any sport.' So I think any publicity is great for our sport.''
May was part of the squad at the Aquatic World Championships in Doha, Qatar, in February, when the United States qualified for the Olympics in the team event for the first time since 2008. The expectation is that he would be the only man competing in Paris, if he is there; another top male athlete in artistic swimming, Giorgio Minisini of Italy, was ruled out of his country's Olympic plans in April.
Both May and Adam Andrasko, the CEO of USA Artistic Swimming, see this as promoting inclusion in the sport by helping those who previously haven't been encouraged — or even permitted — to take part.
''It's a challenge for any one athlete to come into a sport that they're not traditionally gender-specific in and, usually, in most American conversations, that's a female entering a male sport,'' Andrasko said. ''We just have the reverse scenario here.''