A quick dual comment about synchronized swimming:
A) it's ridiculous in so many ways, from the constant smiling and ultra enunciated, Prussian body language, to the nearly hissy-fit splashing frenzy and nose clips that make these women look like painter Wilhem De Kooning's weasel women models
B) despite this, the top practitioners of the sport make it also one of the most amazing displays of human talent you can imagine
Did any of you see the Martin Short/Harry Shearer male synchronized swimming spoof on SNL? A classic. This shows how easy it is to lampoon the sport.
On the other hand, I watched some of the FINA coverage of SS last week, and I am still in awe that our species is capable of execting such maneurvers in such perfect synchrony.
Utterly unbeliveable. Maybe USMS should have a synchronized swimming competition at one of the national championships. If they open this up to any one who wants to do it, are there any 50-54 year old males who would like to form a team with me? I think we should be allowed to use snorkels, though. Or scuba tanks.
Former Member
Well, sychro diving is difficult because you have to be in synch with your partner. And I notice that most of the males are against sychro swimming. Swimming is the easiest of the 4 sports. Anyway, can learn to swim but do water moves in sychro swimming or learn dives or play polo is more difficult.
Synchro Swimming difficult? You know how many 8 year olds do a summer sault in the pool on your average July day? About a million! Still wating to see an 8 year old do a 200 fly though.
Can't say I'm a Synchro fan, but I can recognize that to be good at their sport takes determination,skill and hard work, they're definitely athletes. About fifteen years ago the US national team was at the college for some practice and photo ops during our water polo practice, and those ladies were studly ! I would liken the synchro routine to swimming a 400 IM where you only breath at the walls (25m/yrd pool - effort and breath control).
The Short/Shearer SNL skit is a classic, if you use that as your measuring stick then I guess I can assume your impression of lifeguards (the Jim Carrey lifeguard skit is another all time favorite classic).
Sychrozied swimming like diving is more difficult than just plain swimming. Many sychro swimmers have to swim yardage. Them they have to do dance practice and then they have to put their routines in sinc. And they have to hold their breath underwater for a few mintues that would cause many of us to passed out. I try those postions as a teenager and couldn't done them. As for Bill Mays, I think he has guts, many boys quite the sport . I remember back in high school, a sychro swimmer that l that swam a 24.00, 50 yard freestyle, and in those days the American record was around 23. So, just because women like Sychroized swimming better than men doesn't mean you need to put it down. Actually, I enjoy watching the ladies water polo team and that's probably because I went to high school in California where people do waterpolo. Sychroized swimming is popular in Arizona, we have summer teams and just because the east coast doesn't do it , you shouldn't put it down.
Lefty....
you will need a couple of your friends who aren't afraid of looking silly: get out in the deep end of the pool... where no one can touch bottom and yall just try to float on your backs, in a circle with your feet touching, sculling slightly to stay in one place... then try some simple move like bringing your feet together and back out to meet the feet of the person next to you... I bet you, you won't be able to do it.
When I was young I was in a jazz band. My dad came to one of our concerts, in which we had a guest trumpet player. During one of the trumpet player's solos, he went into a sort of freeform style in which he dramatically bent the notes in a very exaggerated manner. To some of the musicians, the guy was demonstrating a master of his instrument far beyond any of us. To others, he sounded like a moose cow in heat.
After the concert, my dad said, "I enjoyed it, but what was that trumpet player supposed to be doing?"
"Oh, that was great!" I said. "You didn't like it?"
He thought for a minute and said, "It's like this. While I appreciate the skill it takes to make those sounds, I would prefer not to have to hear them. I understand why you were impressed with it, but it was offensive to my ears."
That's about the way I feel about synchronized swimming. I appreciate the skill required of those ladies, but the sillier looking aspects of it can be somewhat offensive to the eyes.
