Synchronised swimming is a hybrid form of swimming, dance and gymnastics, consisting of swimmers (either individuals, duets, teams or combos) performing a synchronised routine of elaborate moves in the water, accompanied by music.
Synchronised swimming demands advanced water skills, and requires great strength, endurance, flexibility, grace, artistry and precise timing, as well as exceptional breath control when upside down underwater. Developed in the early 1900s in Canada, it was a sport performed exclusively by women. It is becoming increasingly popular with men. In its early form it was sometimes known as "water ballet" so is not the case now.
First demonstrated in 1952, synchronised swimming has been an official sport at the Summer Olympic Games since 1984[1]. The 1984 through to 1992 Olympics featured Singles and Duet competitions, but they were both dropped in 1996 in favour of a Team competition. At the 2000 Olympics, however, the Duet competition was restored and is now featured alongside the Team competition.
Olympic and World Championship competition is not open to men, but other international and national competitions allow male competitors. Both USA Synchro and Synchro Canada allow men to compete with women.
Competitors show off their strength, flexibility, and aerobic endurance required to perform difficult routines. Swimmers perform two routines for the judges, one technical and one free.
Synchronised Swimming is governed internationally by FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation).
Preparation
When performing routines in competition, competitors will typicallywear a nose-clip. Hair is worn in a bun and flavorless gelatin, knox,is used to keep hair in place. Competitors also wear custom swimsuitsand headpieces, usually elaborately decorated, to reflect the type ofmusic to which they are swimming. The costume and music are not judged,but factor into the overall performance and "artistic impression".Heavy eye make-up is often worn to help portray the emotions involvedwith the routine; it is very necessary to accentuate the eyes of eachindividual swimmer. Underwater speakers ensure that swimmers can hearthe music at all times and also aid their ability to synchronise witheach other.
Levels of competition
In the United States, the competitions are divided into thefollowing age groups: Age Group, Juniors (elite 15-18), Seniors (elite15 and over), Collegiate, and Masters. Within each competition thereare different levels determined by age, point score or affiliation (forexample, novice, intermediate, age group, junior (15-18), senior,varsity, club, master, etc. Individual swimmers may compete in up tothree events, solo, duet, trio, and team. A team consists of four toeight swimmers, with .25 points added to the final score for eachswimmer over the minimum of four. Swimmers also compete in individualfigures or technical elements, which in some levels of competition aresometimes factored in with routine scores. Also, competition rules maylimit the number of events that each team can participate in.
In Canada, synchronised swimming has a skill-based Tier Structuresystem with Tiers 1-7 as well as competition at the Masters andUniversity levels. Tiers 6 and 7 are national stream athletes that fallin line with international age groups - Tier 6 is 15 and Under and Tier7 is Junior (16-18) and Senior (18+) level athletes.
In the UK, competitions include county level, regional level throughto the national age group competition usually held towards the end ofthe year. Competitors are split by age group, 12 and under, 13 &14, 15/16/17, and 18 and over. To compete in the competitive strand ofcompetitions swimmers must hold the required skill level for their agegroup. Recreational strands of competitions are also present to allowthose competitors who have not achieved the desired level. Swimmerscompete through figures, duets, teams and combination routines.
Positions
There are hundreds of different regular positions and seeminglyinfinite combinations of positions. These are a few basic and commonly used ones:
Vertical position: Achieved by holding the body completelystraight upside down and perpendicular to the surface usually withentire leg out of water.
Crane position: While holding a vertical body position, oneleg is vertical while the other is horizontal parallel to the surfacemaking a 90-degree angle.
'Bent-Knee': Similar to the vertical position, but one knee is bent with the toe touching the inside of the vertical leg.
Ballet Leg: Beginning in a back layout, one leg is extendedand held perpendicular to the body, while the other is held straightalong the surface of the water.
'Split position:' With the body vertical, one leg is stretched forward along the surface and the other extended back along the surface.
''''Falamingo'''': Similar to Ballet Leg positionwhere bottom leg is pulled up so that the shin of the bottom leg istouching the knee of the vertical leg.
Knight: Where the body is in a back arch with legs in backlay-out position. And a leg is lifted so it is perpendicular with thewater.
Side Y: Side Y is a position where the body is in craneposition and rotates the hips and body to the Judges. The body thanarches up so that it makes a Side Y position.
Routine
Routines are composed of "hybrids", figures, and arm sections. Theyoften incorporate lifts or throws, an impressive move in which a groupof swimmers lift or throw another swimmer out of the water. Swimmersare synchronised both to each other and to the music. During a routineswimmers can never use the bottom of the pool for support, but ratherdepend on sculling motions with the arms, and eggbeater kick to keepafloat. After the performance, the swimmers are judged and scored ontheir performance based on technical merit and artistic impression.Technical skill, patterns, expression, and synchronisation are allcritical to achieving a high score.
Technical Vs. Free Routines:
Depending on the competitionlevel, the swimmers will perform a free routine - no specificchoreography requirement - and either a technical routine withpredetermined elements or technical elements - a sequence of positionsperformed individually in front of a panel of judges.
Length of Routines:
The type of routine and competition leveldetermines the length of routines. Routines typically last two and ahalf to five minutes long, the shortest being solos, with length addedas the number of swimmers are increased (duets, trios and teams).
In technical competitions, solo swimmers have only two minutes toperform their routine. In free routines solos are three minutes, duetsthree and a half minutes and teams four minutes.
Scoring:
Routines are scored on a scale of 100, with pointsfor both artistic impression and technical merit. The artistic mark isworth 60% of the total and the technical mark is worth 40%.
Combination (Combo) Routine:
A new category has recently beenincorporated into international Synchronised Swimming called theCombination Routine. In this event, up to ten swimmers compete a singlecontinuous routine with two segments of team, two segments of duet andtwo segments of solo. During parts of the routine when some swimmersare not performing, they tread water alongside without touching theside or bottom of the pool. It is up to the discretion of the coach todetermine the combinations of swimmers who will swim. The degree ofinvolvement for any specific swimmer may vary. For example, a singleswimmer may compete in both duet segments with two different partnersor a swimmer may only perform in a single solo segment of the routine.This event is new but is gaining popularity with teams and audiences onan international level.
[ Last edited by karambunai at 28-1-2009 05:24 PM ]
Originally posted by mutanazita at 29-1-2009 01:01 PM
hi karam!
aku klu nak buat camnih mau mati keras kat dlm pool tu ... water trading pun aku tak pas2 lagik
rasanya bukan zita je yg mati keras.. karam pon mati kejung gak la.. penah gak try2 kat pool.. berangan aje ler...
Post time 25-1-2009 07:24 PM
变色卡
Author
biar betul karam ...
