28/7/2017 1 Comment Athlete or Artist?The Federation Internationale De Natation (Fina) Congress met last July and, amongst other decisions, voted to change the name of Synchronised Swimming to Artistic Swimming. In the UK we are still using synchronised swimming .... for now. All FINA events are now listed as artistic swimming. This small change caused large ripples in the synchro world. Especially as it appears that very few people were aware that this was about to happen before Congress met. Does this new name reflect the strength and power of our athletes? Does it express the athleticism that swimmers need to have to be able to perform the high level routines as seen in the Olympics? Personally I don't think so. Synchronised swimming has always struggled to be seen as a "proper" sport by those who have never tried it. There are parodies (many of which are very funny) on social media and we haven't always helped ourselves by the use of ridiculously intricate deckwork which takes far too long. As a coach I like a clean walk on, into position on deck and then straight into the routine in the water. My personal view is that all that "faffing" around on deck distracts from the swim. Once you can get people into the water to try it however their view often changes and they respect the difficulty of making it look easy. And there in lies the rub - we try and make it look graceful, effortless and easy and it really isn't. It takes years to truly perfect the graceful movements and gain the strength needed to become an elite athlete. And that is what top class synchronised swimmers are - athletes. Work is carried out in the gym as well as the pool; incorporating weight lifting, strength and conditioning and aerobic expercise to their training programme . Lifts are getting higher and more elaborate as the strength in teams grows. Imagaine how hard it is to propel your teammate out of the water without being able to push off the bottom of the pool. Often these lifts are set up in the blink of an eye and before you know it the lift has happened and the team are off again across the pool onto the next pattern change or hybrid figure. There is no time to rest when swimming in teams. The introduction of mixed duets and the rise in the number of boys and men taking part in synchro is a great thing for our sport. Why should we be limited to female only competition? In an age where we are trying to promote our sport to boys I wonder whether boys will be more drawn to artistic swimming than synchronised swimming? I don't think it is the name that puts them off. I think it is the way that our sport is viewed by the wider audience and the view that it is an activity for girls. Raising the profile of the sport and playing up the amount of strength and althetic ability needed may help. I am hoping that a film release later this year will help with this. Swimming With Men is a film based on the story of a man having a mid-life crisis who finds new meaning to his life when he joins an all male amateur synchronised swimming team. With a strong cast, including Rob Brydon, Daniel Mays, Rupert Graves, Thomas Turgoose and Jim Carter, I am hoping that this will tempt more people in general to try our sport. The cast have been very vocal in their new found appreciation for the sport and I hope to hear more when the film is on general release. It is in cinemas on July 6th and I for one will be at the front of the queue to see it.
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There is a train of thought that says if you are over 16 you really shouldn't be thinking about taking up synchronised swimming as a sport. Let me tell you synchro is for everyone, whatever your age, shape or fitness level Masters synchro is growing at a rapid rate in the UK and new clubs are appearing offering training opportunities. Still not sure? Reasons to try it:
Myths about synchronised swimming:
So what's stopping you? You'll find that synchro people are really friendly and love to share their sport with everyone. Find a session near you, grab your cossie and take the plunge. Don't forget to let me know how you get on. To find your nearest synchro club in the UK please visit the ASA Synchro Hub If you live in Kent, UK your nearest masters club could be Medway Mermaids Synchronised Swimming Club. Sessions are held at Hoo Sports Centre pool on a Thursday evening from 8-9pm. Email medwaysynchro@gmail.com for more details. Traditionally synchronised swimming was a female sport but I am delighted to be able to say that this is changing. With the introduction of mixed duets in the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia in 2015 men now have the chance to compete on an international stage. One of the most recognisable of the male athletes is American Bill May who fulfilled a lifetime ambition to win a gold medal with his duet partner Christina Jones in Kazan. May became involved in synchro at the age of 10 when his sister was attending classes and he decided to try it rather than just sit and wait for her to finish. During his career he won many acolades and was USA Synchro's Athlete of the Year in both 1998 and 1999. At the age of 36, and despite being retired for 10 years from the sport, May jumped at the chance to compete and combined his role in the Cirque De Soleil show "O" and the training pool.
“It’s unreal, a dream come true!” May said, according to Agence-France Presse. “I never thought this would happen because I retired from synchro 10 years ago. " "So being able to do this has been a long time in the making. The sport is finally recognizing men, and it feels great. I have been stubborn and it has paid off.” If you would like to read more about Bill's story check out this indepth article by ESPN. Boys can compete in this country in mixed duets and free combination teams at national level and there will be opportunities to compete at regional and local level too. Several clubs already have boys amongst their membership but more needs to be done to recruit boys into the sport. I recently ran a schools pilot project which included boys who really embraced the technical aspects of this challenging sport. For more details of how boys can get involved in synchro or to find your nearest club please visit the ASA website. It was very exciting to see this week that our own home grown mixed duet of Katie Clark and Connor Hill have started training. Keep following me on Facebook and Twitter to see their progress as I'll be reposting updates from both individual accounts and the official accounts too. |
Synchro Skills & SmilesI am an ordinary mum of two who got drawn into a world of sequins and geletine. Archives
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