Photo/Illutration Yukiko Inui, left, and Megumu Yoshida during an artistic swimming duet performance at the Tokyo Olympics on Aug. 3 (Takuya Isayama)

Sequin-studded swimsuits and waterproof make-up are signatures of Olympic artistic swimming events, but one other thing could top them all.

Gelatin, a natural foodstuff, is used by many artistic swimmers to keep their hair in place throughout their routines full of duck-diving and high-jumping.

The artistic swimming events kicked off at the Tokyo Olympics on Aug. 2, and will continue until Aug. 7. Yukiko Inui and Megumu Yoshida will compete in the duet free routine final on Aug. 4.

During the 1980s, Japanese artistic swimmers started using gelatin imported from the United States, according to Miwako Homma, who chairs the Japan Swimming Federation Artistic Swimming Committee.

Before that, they daubed “Tancho Tique,” a men’s solid hair styling product, onto their heads and used dozens of pins to tuck in loose hair, Homma said.

“We could see lots of pins that had fallen to the pool bottoms and on the shower room floors,” said Homma, who won bronze medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in the synchronized swimming’s solo and duet events.

“Gelatin made it really easy to do our hair,” she said.

The Japanese national team has used products of Nitta Gelatin Inc., a company in Yao, Osaka Prefecture, since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Moeka Kijima, who is expected to compete in the team event at the Tokyo Olympics, has given rave reviews of the gelatin.

“My hair never gets loose. It is so good,” she said.

The company said the relationship with the team would not have formed without an honest mistake made by a famed artistic swimmer, Mikako Kotani.

Kotani, who won two bronze medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, forgot to pack gelatin in her luggage on a domestic tour around 1995.

Kitchen staff at the hotel let her use granular gelatin, a product of Nitta Gelatin.

Kotani had used a powdery gelatin product back then. But the process of soaking it in water to make it soft was time-consuming.

The granular product was easy to dissolve in hot water and did not cause clumping.

Kotani was delighted and told the team’s then head coach, Masayo Imura, who leads the Japanese team at the Tokyo Olympics, about the product.

Through an acquaintance, Imura contacted the company, which said it “is willing to support an amateur sport” and started providing the team with free products.

Every time the Japanese team competes in a tournament, the company sends 20 packages, each containing 500 grams of gelatin.

Toru Furukawa, who works at the company’s corporate development division, said staff “are proud to support the team behind the scenes.”

“We hope the team wins a medal,” he said.

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