Howes 1

Haylee Howes

Eng. 1201

Prof. Hellmers

March 8, 2021

What is synchronized swimming and what does it entail?

When people hear synchronized swimming, the first thing that pops into most of

their minds is an image of older women with a flower cap standing in a pool “dancing”.

However, synchronized swimming is much more intricate than that, and not many

people understand just how diverse the sport is. I was invited to attend a clinic for

synchronized swimming, and I was amazed by all of the things I never knew about the

sport and by how difficult it truly is. Swimmers must have a variety of skills to execute

every move perfectly. Synchronized swimming has many aspects to it that make it one

of the most difficult yet entertaining sports. It improves health, and it requires

tremendous athletic ability, strength, and endless hours of training.

There are a few basic facts about synchronized swimming (synchro for short)

that everyone should know to better understand how the sport works. Since the

swimmers are upside down underwater the majority of the time, they have to wear nose

clips to stop water from getting up their noses. There are speakers above and below

water, so the athletes are able to hear their music at all times. They also are not allowed

to touch the bottom of the pool, or they will be disqualified. In order to keep themselves

afloat, they use different motions with their hands called sculls.

The two most widely used sculls are support scull and split/spin scull. Support scull is

performed by holding the upper arms close to the body, bent at the elbows, with the
 Howes 2

forearms at a 90-degree angle (Yates). Then, swimmers move their arms back and forth

to create enough pressure to keep their legs above the water. Spin/Split scull can be

used in two different scenarios. When athletes are arching their back, they use this scull

to keep their legs from going underwater. The swimmers often spin down underwater

from above water, and the spin scull helps them do so by preventing them from falling

over while sinking. Both of these sculls require a great amount of strength in the arms

and even more so in the core.

While sculls keep swimmers’ legs above the water, a move called eggbeater

keeps the upper body above water while they are doing different moves with their arms

or hands. This move is much like how a manual eggbeater works, with one leg rotating

in a clockwise manner and the other leg rotating in a counterclockwise manner (“Basic

Skills and Positions in Synchronised Swimming”). Eggbeater allows swimmers to keep

their upper body above the water without the use of their hands for help. This allows

them to sustain height in the water in order to perform moves with their arms. The

alternating kick movement allows for a stable and efficient way for swimmers to attain

the necessary height to execute the artistic moves the upper half of their body will

perform. Swimmers train this movement often because it is a necessary skill to have for

a higher score.

Synchronized swimmers are scored by three panels of five judges for each

category. They are being judged on their execution, which is how well they perform the

moves and whether or not they are staying synchronized with their teammates and the

music. Another panel of judges will be watching the difficulty of the routine based upon

the moves they do and how hard something can be to synchronize. The final and most
 Howes 3

important category is artistic impression. This is judged based on the choreography,

musical interpretation, and overall presentation of the routine. The swimmers must be

extremely focused during routines to make sure they do everything correctly to meet the

judges’ expectations, which is extremely challenging even with a strict training regimen.

Any swimmer 16 years or older is required to compete in two different types of

routines - free and technical. Free routines allow swimmers to do anything they want

with no specific requirements. On the other hand, technical routines require swimmers

to perform five specific moves to be judged on called elements or figures. Many

swimmers will swim a solo, duet, and a team routine. All of these routines require both a

free and a technical version. This can become very stressful for swimmers because that

is six different routines to remember, and they must train all of these routines vigorously

to get them competition ready.

All swimmers must complete something called level testing each year. Currently,

there are six levels. Each level consists of a water routine choreographed by

synchronized swimming officials, water figures or elements, water laps, a land workout,

and land flexibility. Each swimmer must be tested on a level and get a certain score to

pass, which varies for different levels. If the swimmer does not pass the level, then they

must try again later that year or wait a complete year to try again. This requires the

athletes to have a good mindset because failing over and over again can get frustrating,

but they must build up the courage to try it again.

Levels are required to show coaches where the swimmers are at in their synchro

ability, and they are also required for certain competitions. Synchronized swimmers

often get to travel around the country for some competitions. The biggest meets are
 Howes 4

zone meets, nationals, and Junior Olympics. To compete in the nationals, swimmers

must place in the top three from their zone meet and have completed and passed level

four. It is extremely hard to qualify for Junior Olympics because swimmers must place in

the top three from their region. The routines they swim at this competition must be

exceptional to beat other top-level teams.

All synchronized swimming routines require extraordinary athletic ability from the

swimmers. One of the most important aspects of synchro is flexibility. Athletes must be

able to get splits flat in the water which requires them to have an oversplit on land. They

also need to have good back and shoulder flexibility to be able to perform some of the

more acrobatic moves in their routine. The swimmers also have to keep their toes

curled and knees extended which means they must have great ankle and knee flexibility

as well as everything else.

While flexibility is important, an even more crucial skill that swimmers work

towards is endurance. Swimmers must be able to keep up their energy for up to a four-

minute routine. As a part of the artistic impression score, swimmers must keep smiling

during routines even though they may feel exhausted. Being underwater while

performing complex moves uses up more oxygen than if the swimmer was sitting still.

This means less oxygen is reaching the rest of the body, often leaving swimmers’ entire

bodies aching after being underwater for long periods of time. There have been multiple

studies with findings that 45-50% of the swimmer’s routine is spent underwater

(Robertson and Mountjoy). This requires the swimmer to have great stamina and

exceptional breath control.

Holding one’s breath for a long time does not come naturally; synchronized

swimmers train this skill at every practice. The athletes will do a set just like speed

swimmers do but incorporate laps of not breathing called underwaters somewhere

within the set. This alone sets the sport apart from normal speed swimming. It is much

more difficult training than normal laps. Gabby Nelson, a swimmer from the top team of

the northwest region, explains that she often begins to pulse or gag sometimes when

staying underwater for a long time. The athletes must stay underwater even if their body

is telling them they need air.

Holding the breath does train the swimmer’s lungs and body, but they must also

train their brain. When being underwater, swimmers must learn how to stop listening to

the body’s natural reflex to come up for air. It takes a while to train themselves to stop

listening to their head and understand that they are physically able to stay under longer

than what their mind is telling them. When swimming routines, synchronized swimmers

have to stay underwater until they are supposed to come up. If they come up before

they are supposed to, then the routine will look unsynchronized, so they practice this a

lot with things called power swims. Power swims are when the athletes will swim a lap

of their routine and then immediately after it ends they complete an underwater and

repeat this process over and over again. “While it often feels like torture”, says Nelson,

“I know it is also helping us a lot to become better at the routine, and eventually, the

routine gets less tiring”.

The swimmers not only train in the water; they must also train on land as well.

There are two different types of land training for athletes. The first being flexibility. They

often use therabands to pull their legs back as far as possible and hold the splits for
 Howes 6

multiple minutes at a time. They have a variety of different types of exercises to stretch

each muscle out completely. They train their knees by sitting on the ground with their

legs in front of them and lift their heels off the ground which forces the back of their

knees into the ground, making them more extended. They also have someone push

their ankles down to the ground to increase their ankle flexibility.

The other land training is for strength. Some teams have their own personal

trainer come in and work with them multiple times throughout the week. Elite college

teams have a morning and afternoon practice every day. They will work abs, legs, and

arms the most because those are the three body parts synchronized swimmers use

predominantly. The stronger they are in these areas, the higher they will be in the water,

and they will get a better score.

Some teams even invest in acting classes to train the swimmers. Every routine is

based upon a central theme, musically as well as theatrically. The swimmer’s faces

must match that of the overall feeling of the routine. For example, if there was a good

versus evil duet, they may start out with intense faces and end smiling. Acting classes

help swimmers become familiar with the variety of faces they may need for the routine.

Having a good competition face during the routine will increase the artistic impression

score, too.

Oftentimes, training will even include a gymnastics class for the synchronized

swimmers. Being better at gymnastics allows the swimmers to be more agile in the

water. It will also help them move around better in the water and may even open doors

to new exquisite moves they can do. Gymnastics is most helpful to the flyer of the most

entertaining aspect of synchronized swimming - lifts.

Lifts are the most unique aspect of

synchronized swimming and arguably the most

impressive move. There are different kinds of lifts

but the most common are the stack, platform, and

basket lifts. The stack and basket lifts resemble

the setup of a cheer stunt except the people

pushing do not have a floor to stand on. Instead,

they must eggbeater to push the flyer up. These

two types of lifts allow a flyer to do flips above the

water or just stand up and do an artistic move.

The platform lift works by having someone lay

down and the flyer will stand on top of their

stomach while everyone else pushes the person

laying, giving the illusion of standing on water.

Lifts are very difficult and require an immense amount of strength to push someone out

of the water without the ground to push off. The audience can easily be impressed by

lifts and can find them to be quite entertaining, too.

The apparel of synchronized swimmers can be eye-catching. They have

swimsuits with different designs that correspond to the theme of the routine and are full

of glitter and rhinestones. They also have a headpiece to match the suit that gets

pinned into their hair. The most baffling part of the proper competition apparel is

something that goes in their hair called Knox. The swimmers put their hair in a bun and
 Howes 8

cover it in unflavored gelatin. They do this in order to keep their hair from falling down in

the water.

Most swimmers also wear makeup to finish the look. Makeup is supposed to

allow the judges to see the swimmers’ faces better which could give them a better

artistic score. It can also make their entire appearance seem more professional,

impressing the judges before they even start the routine. Synchronized swimmers do

not wear goggles during their routines so the judges are able to see their faces. This

makes it harder for swimmers to see their teammates underwater.

During routines, the athletes must stay in a formation referred to as a pattern.

There are many different formations the swimmers can do throughout a routine to add

visual effects that can also be entertaining to spectators. Swimmers must keep moving

down the pool during the entire routine, so they never get a break to rest. Most routines

require swimmers to move all around the pool. Again, this requires an immense amount

of stamina and energy.

It is recommended that artistic swimmers consume sufficient calories matching

differential EEs (energy efficiency), with a focus on carbohydrates and protein

(Robertson and Mountjoy). In order for the swimmers to receive the proper amount of

nutrients to maintain consistent energy, the timing of food intake is important and will

also optimize performance and recovery. Elite artistic swimmers should aim for a protein

intake range of 1.5–1.7 g of protein per kg body mass per day, with an emphasis on

timing, to sustain or increase muscle mass (Robertson and Mountjoy).

While synchronized swimming requires a lot of energy from athletes, which can

be draining, synchro has a variety of different aspects to it that benefit the athletes’
 Howes 9

health. One thing artistic swimming will improve is flexibility. This helps any person to

become more supple and limber in every aspect of any sport. There have even been

reports from past athletes explaining arthritis improvements and improvements in other

age-related conditions after being involved in the sport.

Another thing synchronized swimming can increase is aerobic capacity. On

average, a synchronized swimmer can hold their breath for up to three minutes (“Artistic

Swimming: Welcome to the Home of English Artistic Swimming”). Although, during

routines, this is reduced to about one minute because the constant movement requires

more oxygen than if they were just sitting still underwater. Asthma can be improved

through the expansion of lung capacity that the sport offers. There are a considerable

amount of synchronized swimmers with asthma. They often find their symptoms to be

milder and less frequent after doing the sport.

Along the lines of increased lung capacity, synchronized swimming also greatly

improves athletes’ stamina. Synchronized swimmers are trained to make the sport look

effortless when in reality the conditioning they endure is extreme. They have to use the

various sculls and eggbeaters the entire time, which builds up the swimmer’s stamina.

Swimming the routine is like a full-body workout. They can spend up to eight hours a

day for six days out of the week training, which also really helps with the swimmer’s

endurance.

Synchronized swimming requires an immense amount of strength, continuously

building up athletes’ muscles. There are many different moves that work with all

different kinds of muscles in their body. The diversity of moves within a routine means

they are constantly using and building up more strength in different muscles. Since
 Howes 10

swimmers are not allowed to touch the bottom of the pool, they spend hours training to

build up muscle so they are able to perform gravity-defying lifts. There are even lifts that

require a swimmer to lift an entire person by themselves, which takes a lot of muscle

and practice.

Increased confidence and teamwork skills are also a great benefit to

synchronized swimming. Training as a group builds camaraderie and self-esteem,

leading to increased confidence. The athletes will interact with people of all ages and

different backgrounds. This allows them to develop conversational skills and make new

friends. The swimmers need to build trust amongst one another because there are

times when one swimmer can affect the entire team. The swimmers must learn to

function as one unit which requires an intense amount of team bonding. The teamwork

skills they learn throughout their time on a team will help them in life because there will

be many team projects in their futures, whether at school, work, or elsewhere.

Synchro also affects mental health. Learning up to seven different routines

engages the brain to memorize and retain information. Keeping the brain active ensures

new neural pathways are created and that existing ones stay healthy (“Artistic

Swimming: Welcome to the Home of English Artistic Swimming”). Not only does

synchro work the brain, but it also improves mental health. There are endorphins that

the body creates during all physical activity which is good for depression, mood, and

psychological health.

While synchro has many health benefits, some people may argue that it actually

does more harm than good. There are several injuries that people may attain from

synchronized swimming. The most common physical injury a synchronized swimmer

can get is a concussion. The people below lifts especially are more prone to receiving a

hard hit on the head. A flyer on a lift has the responsibility of making sure they jump far

enough away from the people beneath them so they do not land on them. When they do

not move far, they will come down directly on top of the people below which can easily

cause a concussion. The swimmers must also be in their patterns because if one

person is not where they are supposed to be, someone could get kicked hard in the

head.

A more serious health risk common to synchronized swimmers is RED-S (the

syndrome of relative energy deficiency in sports). RED-S can potentially negatively

affect all body systems, resulting in adverse health consequences (Robertson and

Mountjoy). Things such as nutrient deficiency, chronic fatigue, and suppressed immune

function can lead to an increased risk of illness. It could even cause long-term

consequences such as osteoporosis and potential infertility. RED-S can also contribute

to the development of poor bone health from the nutritional deficits.

Diagram showing the results that athletes with RED-S may develop. (Gao, Tian, and
Bruce Gurd. “Hospital Size.” Chart. BMC Health Services Research, vol. 19, no. 1, Jan.
 Howes 12

2019, p. 6. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1186/s12913-019-3907-6.)

Synchronized swimming is a judged sport that emphasizes a lean appearance which

leads some swimmers to be at a higher risk for eating disorders (ED). Serious EDs can

be fatal and cause psychological consequences including depression, anxiety, and

suicide. There has been a screening development that measures the low energy

availability in swimmers, which can identify athletes at risk. There are teams in place to

help direct the swimmers in a more healthy direction in terms of food and raising their

body mass index back up to a healthy level.

Overall, synchronized swimming has a plethora of interesting aspects to it that

most people do not get to see. I was baffled by all that I did not know going to that

synchro clinic that I really wanted to learn more about the sport and share it with others.

The sport requires a lot of dedication and hard work, but most that comes out of doing it

is positive. Synchronized swimming is one of the most difficult yet entertaining sports, it

has many health benefits, and it requires tremendous athletic ability, strength, and a lot

of training. It deserves more recognition than it receives because there is so much more

to the sport than what meets the eye.

Works Cited

ActiveSG, Sports. “Basic Skills and Positions in Synchronised Swimming.”

ActiveSG, 22 June 2020, www.myactivesg.com/Sports/Aquatics/How-To-

Play/Synchronised-Swimming/Basic-skills-and-positions-in-Synchronised-

Swimming. Accessed Feb23, 2021.

Gao, Tian, and Bruce Gurd. “Hospital Size.” Chart. BMC Health Services

Research, vol. 19, no. 1, Jan. 2019, p. 6. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1186/s12913-019-3907-6

Nelson, Gabby. Personal interview. 24 February 20201.

Swim, England. “Artistic Swimming: Welcome to the Home of English Artistic

Swimming.” Swim England Artistic Swimming Hub, TYR, 31 Jan. 2021,

www.swimming.org/artistic-swimming/. Accessed Feb 24, 2021.

Robertson, Sherry, and Margo Mountjoy. “A Review of Prevention, Diagnosis, and

Treatment of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport in Artistic (Synchronized)

Swimming.” International Journal of Sports Nutrition & Exercise Metabolism,

vol. 28, no. 4, July 2018, pp. 375–384. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=s3h&AN=131027209&site=eds-live. Accessed Mar 3, 2021.

Russia Aims to Reign in Synchro Swimming, CHINA.ORG.CN, 2008,

www.china.org.cn/olympic/2008-07/19/content_16034883.htm.
 Howes 14

Yates, Fern. “Synchronized Swimming.” Babel.hathitrust.org, Pennsylvania State

University Library, 1951, babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?

id=pst.000004899167&view=1up&seq=27. Accessed Feb 23, 2021.