Athletes Learn to Sink and Swim
NEIRAD enilno edition
sport |spôrt|
noun
1. an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment
We’ve all argued about sports. It happens in the hallways, in front of the T.V. screen – really anywhere at all: it is most evident at the Pep Rally during Homecoming week. But how can it possibly be fair to judge a sport in which the athletes swim laps underwater as “a fake sport?” There is more than a little injustice at play when the sport of synchronized swimming (also known as synchro) comes up for discussion.
Senior synchro swimmer Dana McLachlin helped uncover some misleading rumors regarding synchro. “Most people don’t realize that it’s really hard – and definitely a sport,” McLachlin said. She swims for the New Canaan YMCA Aquianas.
Synchro requires great lung capacity, strength and grace to complete the routines. And with four-hour long practices, it’s not surprising that these girls can handle almost anything from an athletic perspective.
Few people know that synchronized swimming has been an Olympic event since 1984, with Russia most recently winning Gold for the team routine in the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Scoring is determined by artistic impression and technical merit on a scale of 100 points.
McLachlin swims on a team of about 80 girls. Ages range from six to 18, including three freshmen from DHS who join her at the YMCA – Jen O’Neill, Lauren Mayhew, and Annabel Schneider. All four girls claim to have joined the sport “late,” as O’Neill joined in 4th grade, McLachlin joined in 5th grade, Mayhew in 7th, and Schneider in 8th. “Most start in 3rd grade,” McLachlin said, “or earlier.”
Despite their late arrivals, the girls seem to have adjusted well. Schneider describes her progress as “unusual to only participate for a year, and move up so quickly.”
As for the physical requirements, Schneider “struggled at the beginning, but soon got used to the practices.”
O’Neill agreed, claiming the sport is hard, but the body soon adapts. “I can hold my breath across a swimming pool, maybe more…” O’Neill said, who has done the sport for five years.
Of the 80 girls, the swimmers are split up by age and experience, usually in groups of 16. From there, the routines performed vary with the number of girls – from groups of eight to three, two, and even solo performances. The title “synchronized swimming” is thus misleading, as the girls are not always synchronized in the water, sometimes “splitting off,” and moving individually in the routine.
“Your main goal in a routine is to get as high out of the water as you can,” McLachlin said. A regular routine would consist of a small group of girls in the water, performing different moves similar to dancing. The swimmers kick, jump, dive, twirl, and use many other steps to complete the patterns to the beat of music.
The girls have about eight to 10 meets per year that span three or four days. Also, some amount of traveling is often required, as the meets have been in all parts of the United States, including California and Florida. McLachlin, O’Neill, and Mayhew have even participated in a club meet in Peru! “We’re probably going to Europe next,” O’Neill said, “Italy or something...”
The sport is also slowly, but surely rising in popularity. McLachlin describes it as a “high cost” sport, and intends to continue with it in college. Some colleges that target synchronized swimming are Boston University, MIT, Stanford University, College of William and Mary, and University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. Although these schools do recruit swimmers, McLachlin advises against using it as the “ticket into college.” She plans to focus more on her studies in this next phase of her life.
It’s not the sport for all, but it is the right one for these four girls. McLachlin said, “I have to skip a lot of school for it… but it’s worth it in the end.”
