Old photo of Israel swimming team shared with the false claim it is linked to 2024 Olympics

What's the claim?

An image of swimmers forming the words "BRING THEM HOME NOW!" with their bodies in a pool has been widely shared on social media, claiming to show Israeli swimmers protesting at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

The slogan "Bring Them Home Now" has become a global campaign by Israelis, calling for the release of hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Yellow ribbons traditionally represent troop returns and are now used to demand the release of hostages.

In the viral image, the swimmers are dressed in blue swimsuits and caps, and their synchronized positions spell out the message against the blue pool water.

This image was shared on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption: "The Israeli Olympic team was not allowed to wear their yellow 'Bring Them Home' pins at the Olympic games. So they decided to spell it out for the entire world to see it!" One such post has garnered approximately 60 million views. Archived versions of these posts are available here, here, here, and here.

Screenshots of posts sharing the claim on X. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

The narrative also appeared on Facebook, with one user geotagging the photo to Paris to push the claim that it happened during the ongoing games. Archived posts are available here, here, here, and here.

Screenshots of the viral Facebook posts. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

This image was shared following an incident at the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony, where Waseem Abu Sal, a Palestinian boxer, wore a white shirt embroidered with pictures of warplanes dropping missiles on children playing sports in reference to the bombings in Palestine.

Subsequently, The Times of Israel reported, citing the public broadcaster Kan, that the International Olympic Committee approved Abu Sal's shirt but, earlier in July, allegedly denied a request by Israeli athletes to wear yellow ribbons advocating for the return of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. 

However, this viral picture does not show the Israeli swimming team protesting at the Paris Olympics. 

What are the facts?

Upon conducting a reverse image search on the viral photo, we were able to trace it back to an Instagram post (archived here) uploaded by the Wingate Institute, a sports complex in Israel, on November 18, 2023.

The post, translated from Hebrew to English using Google Translate, reads: "The girls of Israel's artistic swimming team, training at the Wingate Institute, the National Institute for Sports Excellence, led by coaches Svetlana Belcher and Risa Kunin - in a 'cry' for the return of the abductees and raising awareness in the world of the crimes against humanity committed on 7.10.23 by Hamas terrorists."

Screenshot of an Instagram post by the Wingate Institute. (Source: Instagram/Modified by Logically Facts)

The post includes the hashtag #bringthemhomenow and features the names of ten athletes. It also credits drones and underwater photography to Adam Spiegel and Michel Braunstein.

The same photo was shared by Israel's artistic swimming team (archived here) the following day, noting the photo's purpose was to advocate for the return of abductees and raise global awareness of the crimes committed against Israelis.

Additionally, the State of Israel's official X account (archived here) posted the image on November 19, 2023, describing it as a tribute to the 240 hostages held by Hamas and credits the photos to Spiegel and Braunstein.

Spiegel, who captured the image, also shared it on Instagram (archived here) in November 2023 with the caption: "Home, now!" His profile, featuring similar aerial images, identifies him as a "fine art aerial photographer."

Furthermore, news outlets like i24NEWS and Ynet News reported that the photos were intended to raise awareness about the urgent need for the release of the abductees.

More about the image

While official posts and news reports state that ten female athletes participated in the photograph, the image appears to show many more athletes.

Logically Facts contacted Spiegel for comment on the viral image, who stated that the image has "no connection to the Olympic Games." He further told us, "I can confirm that the pic was taken on Nov 17, 2023 in Israel in order to raise awareness to the hostages deal and the effort we should make."  

When asked if the image had been digitally edited, he explained, "Each letter was a separate photo that was combined into one." 

Paris 2024 Olympics

According to the Jerusalem Post, 88 Israeli athletes are participating in the event this year. Furthermore, The Times of Israel reported that 18 Israelis are competing in various water sports. Notably, Israel's synchronized swimming delegation, now called artistic swimming by the Olympics, includes Shelly Bobritsky and Ariel Nassee. A search on World Aquatics, the international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee for water sports, confirms that Bobritsky and Nassee are the only women representing Israel in artistic swimming.

Screenshot from the World Aquatics website shows Bobritsky and Nassee are the only women representing Israel in artistic swimming. (Source: World Aquatics)

There are no reports that the Israeli swimming team displayed such a formation during practice or protested otherwise in Paris at the Olympics.

The verdict

The viral image, taken in November 2023, is unrelated to the Paris 2024 Olympics or the Israeli Olympic swimming team. It shows members of the Israeli artistic swimming team advocating for the release of Israeli hostages well before the Olympics and has been incorrectly linked to the ongoing competition. Therefore, we mark this claim as misleading.