How many people do synchronized swimming

Synchronized Swimming Works the Brain. Increases Emotional and Psychological Health. Improved Cognitive Skills. Prolonged Holding Breath. Improved Cardiovascular System. Increases Lung Capacity.

Thank You. We will contact you as soon as possible. Contact Us For More Information. Sparta Studio Fitness Programs. Contact us with any questions you have about Njswim's Fitness Programs. Send Message. Please contact us with any questions you have. Warren Park Swim Programs. Sparta Studio - Open Gym. Buoyancy is also an issue. In mixed duets, physical differences between men and women do not help any one team over another.

But the AAU rejected the idea of these too, a "bizarre" decision Hubbard interprets as a prudish judgement that it was not right for scantily clad men and women to cavort together in the water. Men were allowed to compete against other men - Hubbard won the national junior title in - but there was a lack of interest and the competitions died out. By this time the fantastically popular "aqua-musicals" that Esther Williams went on to make for MGM after her days in Billy Rose's pageant were fixing the idea that it was a feminine activity - girls in sequined outfits making pretty patterns in the water.

In the sport was opened up to men in the US, allowing them to compete alongside and against women, but any aspiring male synchro stars were soon to suffer further discouragement. When, after a year campaign, synchronised swimming featured on the programme of the Olympics in Los Angeles, it was for women only. During Bill May's ascendancy in the late s, his country's governing body of the sport, USA Synchro, lobbied Fina to allow men into the pool for the World Championships, but - crushingly for May - it was not to be.

One sports insider says that the IOC warned Fina that the sport could be dropped from the Olympics if it was opened up to men. But times change. Women now compete in every category of sport at the Olympics - though there remain two that are closed off to men the other is rhythmic gymnastics.

Some have interpreted Fina's hurried change of heart last November as a sign that the IOC might also be ready to include mixed duets. The IOC says that it will only consider adopting male synchronised swimming after a formal request from Fina - and no such request has ever been made.

A decision on inclusion would have to take place at least three years before a Games, and it would follow a thorough assessment of the event, including a survey of its popularity around the world.

National swimming bodies have decided that it may be worth their while increasing male participation in the sport. Although men have been allowed to compete in the US since the s, the UK's Amateur Swimming Association ASA only changed its rules after Fina's decision last year - and it went a step further, allowing mixed combination teams too. This presents a big opportunity for Out to Swim, a London club, which added synchro to its roster of activities in Its members took part in their first proper competition this month.

The London club is one of a handful around the world which competes at an amateur level with all-male and mixed teams. Some of the teams - including Out to Swim and Paris Aquatique - are linked to gay swimming clubs, and some of them are not.

All that's going to do is proliferate the idea that this is a sport reserved for gay men - and it's not at all. To get the extreme flexibility required to compete in synchro it is essential to start early, and Fay says that the stigma of boys doing what is perceived to be a girls' activity is a barrier to them enjoying what is "actually a pretty cool sport".

A rebrand for synchro may be on the way. He points out that 15 years ago dance classes held little attraction to boys, but with the rise of street dance groups like Diversity, the Britain's Got Talent winners, that has begun to change.

For Benoit Beaufils, it's all about exposure. Earlier this year, he and Virginie Dedieu went on a short tour of French swimming clubs with their duet. And nobody wants to go into a sport that will stop at a national level. I think it's really the future of the sport. Despite Beaufils' optimism, it may take many more years for the IOC to open the door to male synchronised swimming - but if and when it does, one thing is certain.

Additional reporting by Tom Sabbadini and Rafael Saakov. Image source, Getty Images. Image source, Cirque du Soleil Inc. Image source, USA Synchro. Image source, Benoit Beaufils. Image source, Corey Fox. Virginie Dedieu is France's most successful synchronised swimmer.

Image source, Rex Features. Darina Valitova and Aleksander Maltsev during the mixed duet test event in June. Image source, AFP. Image source, Cathy Goodwin. Kay Curtis standing centre with her mixed team The Chicago Tritons in Image source, Bert Hubbert. Esther Williams, though not a synchro swimmer, is credited with giving the sport its glitzy reputation. Image source, Paris Aquatique. Paris Aquatique have been taking synchro seriously since An early Superman-themed routine from Paris Aquatique.

The technical routine involves performing predetermined elements that must be executed in a specific order. While judging routines is inevitably subjective, there are strict guidelines for the judges to consider. There is no music and this is simply a case of how well the individual performs the movements.

Synchro swimmers will often wear elaborate costumes which, while they do not count towards any of the scoring, should complement the music selection and be in good moral taste. Another distinctive aspect of synchro is the deck work. Swimmers have ten seconds on poolside before they enter the water and while their walk on to the pool and the position they take do not count towards a score, they do set the tone for the routine and judges will already be forming their impression from it.

Cookies on British Swimming We use cookies on our website. I accept these cookies. Browse by Sport Synchro Learn more about Synchro. A test on all the Olympic sports before the London Olympic Games found that synchronised swimmers ranked second only to long distance runners in aerobic capacity! Competitors need strength and flexibility to perform twists and lifts as well as rhythm and flair to synchronise and interpret the music, which they listen to through underwater speakers.