Is this even a sport?…Too right it is!

A quick quiz question for you.  Do you know what connects egg beaters, knights and flamingos? 

Before I tell you the answer here are some more questions:

Can you run a hundred metres?

Can you hold your breath for 30 seconds?

Can you do both at once?

All with the very real possibility that you might get punched in the face at any moment?

And if you did, would you smile about it?

Would you recommend all this for your teenage daughter?

In case you hadn’t realised, we’re delving into the world of Artistic Swimming or Synchronised Swimming,  Synchro or Water Ballet as it’s also known. 

(For the uninitiated, “egg beaters”, describe the leg movements used to keep swimmers afloat, a “Knight” is where the swimmer is upside down with one leg vertical and the other horizontal  and the “Flamingo” is the description used when the heel of one leg is placed on the knee of the vertical leg. So now you know!)

I have been learning quite a lot about Artistic Swimming recently and the more I learn the more astonishing it becomes that anyone would choose to do it.   I don’t think it is widely appreciated just how difficult it is, indeed many don’t even consider it to be a “proper” sport, just some girls flailing around prettily in a pool.  So, if when you think of Synchronised Swimming, you envisage lots of bathing beauties making star shapes in a Busby Berkley film maybe you need to reconsider your opinion. (Not that I am knocking the level of skill required to coordinate the one hundred or so swimmers required to  produce those sequences either) . 

Today’s Synchro swimmers are highly dedicated athletes who have trained their bodies to perform incredible stunts.  Witness a modern routine and you’ll see swimmers launched from the pool six or seven feet into the air, turning summersaults before landing back into the water (hopefully not on top of their teammates).  Tricky enough to do on land, but in water, when you aren’t allowed to touch the bottom it’s a truly outstanding (albeit fairly routine) achievement.  It’s an example of how Synchro routines represent two completely different elements simultaneously: above the water everything is grace and elegance whilst below the surface it’s all strength and power.  Teamwork is everything, not just in coordinating movements with eachother but, equally vitally, ensuring that each team member is in exactly the right position at exactly the right moment to pull off these spectacular set pieces.

Staggering breath control is essential.  The example of running a hundred metres whilst holding your breath is considered to be a comparable exercise.  Routines may last up to three and a half minutes so you’re not just doing it once, but several times in quick succession.  The danger is palpable.  Swimmers can easily fall victim to “Shallow Water Blackouts” where the levels of CO2 in the body become so low that the mind and body can go “numb”.  The result is that signals to the brain become confused and the brain doesn’t tell the swimmer to come up for air.  This phenomenon can affect swimmers at the very peak of physical fitness,  In July 2022, at the World Championships in Budapest, US swimmer Anita Alverez was performing a solo routine.  As a former Olympian she was very experienced.  Nevertheless, as her performance drew to a close she suddenly sank lifeless to the bottom of the pool.  It was her very good fortune that her coach Andrea Fuentes realised immediately what was happening and dived in to save her.  She was able to bring her to the surface and get her out of the pool where the paramedics took over.  It was estimated that Alverez had not been breathing for around two minutes.

Fortunately she made a full recovery.  Her reaction?  She immediately wanted to take part in the team event in a few days time!  In case you haven’t realised it by now, these girls are incredibly tough.

And it is, of course, mainly girls who compete.  Male Sychro swimmers do exist, and very good they are too, but this is primarily an all-girls affair.  Male Artistic Swimming has yet to be admitted into the Olympics for example.   That’s why I asked if you would recommend it to your daughter rather than your son.  And I guess, given the experience of Alverez, you can add “the risk of imminent death” to that initial list.

What about the “getting punched in the face thing”?  Well it’s not a deliberate action but with eight swimmers performing extremely closely together, accidents are bound to happen and with crisp clean movements required, collisions are likely to be as brutal as they are unexpected.  Kicks and punches can happen anywhere and land on any part of the body but they mainly happen below the surface.  However, this is not always obvious to the spectators for two reasons; first, if a swimmer stops during a routine, the whole team is immediately disqualified and second, the rules state that, when out of the water, the competitors have to be smiling at all times.  Points are deducted if they are not.

Thus injuries can often go unnoticed and unreported.  And that’s becoming an increasing problem for coaches and the authorities.  A diagnosis of concussion can mean that a swimmer is not allowed to swim for several weeks.  Competition for places within teams is fierce and intense and girls will know that time out holds the danger of losing their place.  As a consequence, they will often keep quiet about a blow to the head despite the associated risks of long term brain damage associated with doing so.

Synchronised swimming then is not for the faint-hearted.  It requires levels of strength and determination way beyond that which most of us would endure.  And there’s more, much more.  I haven’t even begun to describe the life and routine of a teenage swimmer, the seemingly Draconian rules and regulations of competition, the really surprising way in which some top teams are funded (if you don’t know, you’ll never guess) and what Synchro swimmers describe as the most difficult thing of all about the sport. 

That’s all for next time.