Synchronized Swimming Guide for Beginners. What do you need to know?

Synchronized or artistic swimming is a mysterious and charming water dance performed by beautiful girls. Magnificent wetsuits, makeup and hairstyle, the grace of movements, and admiring fans are the outer side of this sport. In fact, this is the most labor-intensive sport.

2 hours in the gym and from 6 to 8 hours of training on the water 6 days a week. And during the training camp or preparation for competitions — even more. Thanks to hard work and perseverance, you can become a master of sports. In this article, we will talk about the routine in synchronized swimming, so that beginners know what hard work it is. We hope that our tips will ease the way and motivate you to achieve amazing results.

The Main Advantages

Professionals spend a significant amount of time in the pool, learning different synchronized swimming techniques. It gives them a full load on all muscle groups, which is especially important for the body. The compression effect on the joints and vertebral column is minimized in water, having a positive influence on the formation of muscles. Do not forget that water reduces physical tension, stabilizes the nervous system, and relaxes.

Basic skills in synchronized swimming

Proper breathing

Athletes learn the techniques of proper breathing and how to hold it for 3-4 minutes. It allows synchronized swimmers to stay underwater for a long time, performing various exercises. As a result, large open lungs are formed, due to which the body is better supplied with oxygen.

Good ear

All the athletes' performances are held to music, so getting exactly to the beat is one of the most significant tasks for synchronized swimmers.  Children who have been learning this skill since childhood feel music perfectly and have better hearing than their peers.

Artistry

Assessing the performance, the judges take into account first the expressiveness, depth of disclosure of the chosen topic, originality, and choice of wetsuits. This is why artistry is one of the components of success.

Types of exercises

Classes of professional synchronized swimmers are divided into two types.

On land

This type of training is mandatory, since the elements of water ballet, gymnastics, and aerobics present in it contribute to the development of correct posture and superb precise movements. Also, training on land allows you to combine multiple listening to the melody and repeating the exercises of the program. Movement technique, energy, and grace are developed outside the pool.

In the water

Sports training in the pool is an essential part. At the first stages, beginners master various swimming techniques, combining them with rhythmic exercises and teamwork. Also, as part of these classes, swimmers learn to dive and practice various shapes and drawings on the water.

The main figures of synchronized swimming

There are so many figures in it, but let's just consider 4 more popular of them.

Eiffel 

The starting position is on the back. An upward angle is performed with the right foot. While maintaining this position, the body rotates 180° around the longitudinal axis with the right shoulder forward to the "angle down" position. The right leg moves to the surface of the water and joins the left, and the body moves with head down perpendicular to the surface.  The right leg moves until it meets the other leg until the body reaches the starting position.

Flamingos

The starting position is on the back. An upward angle is performed with one leg. While maintaining this position, the other leg is pulled up to the chest, keeping the shin and foot parallel to the water surface. The middle of the shin is pressed against the vertical leg, after which the bent leg is straightened perpendicular to the top. The head is on the surface. Holding the vertical position of the legs and not plunging into the water, the body is unbent vertically. The figure ends with immersion underwater. The highest possible body position is desirable.

Dolphin. Circle back with a bent knee

 The starting position is on the back. The movement begins headfirst, one leg lies on the water, the other slides along the inner surface to the middle of the shin of a straight leg, bending the knee. In this position, the body continues to perform a circle with a diameter of 2.5 - 3 m. The knee is unbent at the moment of touching the surface of the water.

Knight

The starting position is on the back. An upward angle is performed with the right leg, which remains in a fixed vertical position, while the athlete, bending in the lower back, falls headfirst vertically down. The left leg rises perpendicularly to the surface of the water, and the right simultaneously takes a position with a bent knee. In this motion, a 180° screw is performed, the leg is unbent at the knee joint, and the body comes to the surface feet first. The figure ends in a position on the back. Hand movements are random.

Secrets of synchronized swimming

How do synchronized swimmers breathe underwater?

They just dive and hold their breath like ordinary people, and replenish the oxygen supply in those short seconds that the head is above the surface of the water. There is one difference — the lung volume of synchronized swimmers is about twice as large as the standard (more than 4 liters), so they can breathe underwater for several minutes, although the rules allow them to stay there for no more than forty seconds.

What to do if a nose clip falls during a performance?

It happens! The nose clip protects against the ingress of water and air into the nose, but with sudden movements, it can slip off. Each synchronized swimmer always has a spare hidden somewhere in the swimsuit, but it is often not possible to put it on during the performance of some elements — then they have to endure, control their breathing with the nose and cover it with the upper lip.

Do athletes hear music underwater?

Sure.  Special hydro acoustic speakers are installed underwater, synchronized with the main ones — above-water ones. And even during training, when work is being done under the bill, the coach taps the right rhythm on the stairs of the pool — the sound is perfectly transmitted even to the other end and often irritates the swimmers training there.

What is not allowed in synchronized swimming?

In fact, a lot of things. For example:

• Touch the bottom
• Stop during the performance
• Wear something else besides a swimsuit.
• Have any jewelry
• Choose a soundtrack with large volume differences.
• Perform technique elements on land (as the side of the pool is called here).
  

Thus, synchronized swimming is one of the promising areas of sport. By regularly attending training sessions and improving their skills, you can achieve significant results.