To the uninformed, watching a synchronized swimming performance can conjure up its share of sniggering jokes and sideways comments. This reaction is due, in part, to the nearly unfathomable acrobatic underwater contortions and bursts from the water of girls sporting those unflattering noseplugs, and often, lots of waterproof makeup.
When watching them perform live, however, one hears incantations of "how'd they do that?" and sees lots of disbelieving head-shaking. In the case of synchronized swimming, ignorance is not bliss. It's just ignorant.
So here's a suggestion, come to the St. Edward State Park pool (on Juanita Drive) any day after school or Saturday mornings and get ready to be blown away by a group of girls who can crank out crunches, leg lifts and lunges like Marines; do perfect splits (and beyond); and hold their breath under water for an ungodly amount of time (as much as 45 seconds). And smiling all the while. (Next time you're trotting on the treadmill or swimming laps, try looking really happy.)
The Seattle Synchronized Swim Team - formerly the Seattle Aqua Club since its inception in the early 1980s - has 35 members on five different teams: novice, intermediate, age 12-13, 14-15 and the junior/senior division. Additionally, the Sea Stars introductory program meets one hour a week as a way for swimmers and parents to test the waters.
According to board member and one of the team's icons, Craig Penner, in 1997 the club evolved into a cohesive, parent-run, all-volunteer organization. He reports that the Northwest consistently places in the top 10 in national meets, and frequently is fourth behind California synchro powerhouses Santa Clara, Riverside and Walnut Creek.
What makes us so special? "We're used to being wet," jokes Penner. "And people like coming here [for meets] because we're such good hosts." On the more serious side, he cites the coaches and the history of winning with the club's success. Penner predicts that 14-year-old Liane Lovitt has a good chance at making the junior national team, which consists of 10 girls. "We've had several girls qualify," he says, his daughter being one of them.
Eighteen-year-old Jillian Penner is a two-year member of the U.S. Junior National team and has competed in Moscow and Orlando at the Pan American Games. She recently has qualified for the U.S. National Team 1 Training squad and is a contender for the 2008 Olympics team. Jillian joined the Seattle squad when she was 7 and is now in Walnut Creek, training her heart out and also finishing her senior year of high school there while living with a host family.
Penner says of his daughter's experience: "She's learned how to discipline her time and how to deal with huge disappointments and how to advocate for herself. I've seen the girls build long-lasting friendships; the girls are not just from this area."
There are other synchronized swimming clubs throughout the state, including Spokane, Poulsbo, Port Townsend and Seattle, but the Seattle Synchro club is one of the most reputable and well-developed. Today's club is comprised of about 35 prepubescent and adolescent girls (although boys are welcome) and draws members from Kirkland, Seattle and even Gig Harbor.
The Seattle Synchronized Swim Team already has bragging rights to two 1984 Olympics gold medal winners: Tracy Ruiz-Conforto and Candy Costie-Burk. (Hence the Northshore Ruiz-Costie pool in Bothell.) Seattle Synchro currently is using the Carole Ann Wald Memorial Pool at St. Edward State Park as its training center.
Frances Dierken, a fifth-grader at Discovery Community School in Kirkland, joined the synchro club last January and is now swimming for the novice team. With Olympic gold casting a far-away twinkle in her eye, the 11-year-old says she enjoys the team "because you get to be with friends and you also get to be in the water pretty much the whole time." She will swim "as long as I can do it" and if there's ever a choice between synchro and another activity, synchro wins hands down.
Juanita Elementary fourth-grader Miranda Sage is a three-year veteran of the team and swims "up" in the 12-13 age group. "I've never really done any other sports," she says. "It's fun but you also get to compete and do routines and figures."
The parents are clearly pleased with the community feel to the organization, the positive role modeling, the growth they've seen in their children and of course the benefits of intense and continuous aerobic exercise. "It is a bunch of hard working girls and parents," says Frances' mother Rinneke Dierken. "The parents drive their athletes long distances so they can attend meets and clinics."
Dierken also appreciates what she calls "the human side of the sport." She explains that the meets are "child friendly" in that ribbons are given to the top eight athletes in each age category. "If there are nine (or more) athletes in a category, the extra girls can receive a "participant" ribbon. No one is going to go home empty handed."
Miranda's mother Marney Sage suggested her daughter try synchro when she graduated out of the swim lessons at the Columbia Athletic Club (in Juanita). "We love it because she loves swimming, there's a lot of parent involvement and it's a really positive atmosphere," she says. And her daughter's goal is none other than a spot on the Olympic team. "If you look at her school work," says Sage, "that's all that she writes about."
For more information, see www.seattlesynchro.com or 269-4272.[[In-content Ad]]
