>> The Sport

Synchronized swimming (synchro), an Olympic sport often described as “dance in the water”, is one of the most disciplined and demanding sports in the world, combining strength and endurance with flexibility, balance and grace.

Undoubtedly the most popular and thrilling events in synchronized swimming are the team “technical” and “free” routines, in which 8 swimmers perform aesthetically pleasing yet difficult movements “in sync” with both each other and the music, while holding their breath and keeping afloat.

The technical routine requires swimmers to perform specific move in a set order, including boosts, rockets, thrusts and twirls; in the free routine there are no restrictions on the type of choreography the swimmers perform. Judges look at each routine for a high degree of difficulty and risk, height out of the water, flawless execution, presentation, innovative choreography and synchronization. During their routines, swimmers cannot use the bottom of the pool for support, but rather depend on sculling motions to propel and support themselves in the water.

Swimmers will typically wear a noseclip to prevent water from entering the nose, thus allowing them to stay upside down and under the water for long periods of time. Underwater speakers transmit sound into the pool so that the swimmers can hear the music clearly, and can better maintain the synchronization and split-second timing that is so critical to the sport.

During competition, the overall visual effect is enhanced by colourful costumes and dramatic make-up to highlight the athlete's features. Hair is usually worn in a bun high on the head and adorned with a headpiece; coatings of gelatin are applied to the hair to help ensure it stays in place.

The judging for synchronized swimming resembles the previous judging format for figure skating, with two panels of five judges to assess a performance. One panel scores the technical merit and the other panel scores the artistic impression. In both cases, each judge awards a mark out of a possible 10.

>> In The Beginning

Synchronized swimming originally began as a male sport, with the earliest recorded competition in 1890 in Berlin . Thanks to Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman, acrobatic tricks in a water tank became a popular exhibition at several World Fairs. In the 1950s, synchro's popularity was heightened by US film star Ester Williams, who performed ballet-like moves in the water in a series of Hollywood movies. The sport developed throughout the early 1950s, officially gaining International Swimming Federation's (FINA) recognition in 1952.