Penguins get in the groove
From the Echo, first published Wednesday 15th Oct 2003.
IS it a sport? Is it an art form? Is it, even, a completely pointless exercise?
All are questions that have been asked many times of synchronised swimming.
Other questions concern the fixed smiles, nose clips, make-up and bucketloads of hair gel with which synchro is invariably associated.
But to all its many doubters, this most challenging of Olympic disciplines has one ultimate answer: Jump in and try it for yourself!
As a relatively experienced swimmer myself, I have never doubted that its skills would be well beyond me, and this was confirmed when I joined the girls of Poole Penguins Synchro Club at one of their training sessions at the Dolphin Pool.
Even the basic exercise of floating on my back with toes pointed proved a challenge.
I could float all right but my feet sank to somewhere near the vertical - not what was required!
Other exercises included "eggbeating" (moving your legs round in circles while in an upright position), the tub (from the back layout, bend the knees and waist and draw the legs along the surface of the water), tub rotation (while in the tub position, rotate through 360 degrees), flamingo (from tub, raise one leg to vertical) and oyster (from back layout, bring arms over head, snap shut and sink).
After 15 minutes of this, I was beginning to think that sinking was a desirable option.
But for many young swimmers, mostly girls, synchronised swimming offers a combination of attractions which few if any other sports can match.
"There are a couple of local swimming clubs that feed swimmers through to us," said Poole Penguins coach Jo Sims.
"They are usually girls who realise that they are not going to be speed swimmers but who still enjoy swimming.
"If they are good swimmers and interested in dance and gymnastics, they can combine them together to use the water."
Poole Penguins currently have 21 members, aged seven to 18, who train on Sunday evenings alternating between Broadstone Leisure Centre (5-6pm) and the Dolphin (7-8pm).The club used to be known as Poole Bay and was then a part of Poole Swimming Club.
"We were a very small part of a big organisation so we decided to become independent," says Jo.
"We held a vote for a new name and came up with Poole Penguins."
Synchro swimmers generally find the gibes about fixed smiles and gelatine irksome and it's easy to see why.
"It's not a fair image because they all have to be physically fit to do it," says Jo.
"It's not like simply swimming a width of the pool."
She adds: "Is it a sport or an art form? I think it is both. You have to have a good sense of rhythm. We have had swimmers come along with no sense of timing and no way can you get them to do synchro because they haven't got the beat in them.
"They also have to be graceful in the water and have athletic ability."
Nicky Morris, whose daughter Emma is a Penguins swimmer, says: "You have to swim upside down, holding your breath and moving to the music. When Emma goes under the water, I find myself breathing for her because she is under so long."
To help their charges maintain the necessary levels of fitness, synchro coaches usually try to build some stamina training into the routines.
While some synchro clubs enter a lot of competitions from open meets and district championships up to national and international events, the emphasis at Poole Penguins is rather different."
We do some competitions but we find that our swimmers actually like to swim for pleasure and enjoy putting on displays for parents, grandparents and friends," says Jo.
The competitive side of the sport is structured around a grading system which starts with novice and preliminary grades one, two and three, then progresses through grades one to six.
For grade one and above, swimmers are tested in both figures and routines.
"They have to do certain items in a routine and in a specific order," says Jo. But they can choose their own music and the pool pattern that they make."
The music is played through speakers both above and below the water surface.
Emma Morris, 18, has taken her synchro a step further, incorporating it into her A level syllabus in sport and PE at Corfe Hills School.
Di Lewis, the school's head of creative arts, said: "Emma asked me if it would be possible to include it, I contacted the examining board and they agreed.
"They classified it as an aesthetic activity in the same way that dance or gymnastics could be included. It accounts for about 10 per cent of her A level marks."
Poole Penguins are one of several synchro clubs in Dorset.
There are others based at Ferndown, Christchurch, Bovington and Bridport.
The club offers two free trial sessions to any swimmer interested in joining.
For more details, call Jo Sims on 01202 687066 or Claire Ambler on 01202 604669.
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