LARGO, Fla. — The Suncoast Waterworks synchronized swim team is headed to the Junior Olympics.
“These girls have been practicing since August of last year working on these routines,” assistant coach Shea Tombrink said. “We’re working really hard to qualify. We had to come in top three at the last two meets in order to qualify, and they did it.”
Three teams, 12U, 13-15, and 16-17, qualified to compete in Gresham, Ore., beginning on July 29.
One of the most challenging aspects of synchronized swimming is communicating to the athletes that what makes a team stand out is for everyone to blend in.
“We work a lot of syntonization, but we have counts to the music,” Alexis Hanna, 11, said. “So say the beat is … we will count one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. And do moves on the counts. We have a lot of errors in syntonization, and we lose points on that, which is depressing. It happens.”
Staying in sync is rule number one. Another rule is one that Hanna believes is a common misconception of her sport.
“People always think we are touching the bottom, which is kind of annoying,” she said. “If you look at this pool, it’s 17 feet deep. No way we’re touching the bottom of that.”
The sport has become part of these young athletes' lives. It’s like experiencing the music underwater—they just feel it.
“There is something about synchronized swimming. It’s grown as a passion for me,” Annika McNulty, 15, said. “We have underwater speakers that we connect to, and we play the speakers above so they can stay in sync.”
“It’s kind of a mix between cheerleading, gymnastics, dance, swimming, all while holding your breath and not touching the bottom of the pool,” Tombrink said.
Over the last several weeks, the three teams have been perfecting their different routines.
“It’s a hard sport, and our job is to make it look easy,” Tombrink added. “If it looks easy, then we are doing our job right. But, the girls are really working hard under the water.”
The teams will leave for Oregon on June 28.
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