Karen's Tower--pointed toe, locked knee, pushing thigh away, 90° straight, high in water...
Coach says I should hold it long enough for water to be dripping down my leg.
In December, we participated in our first Figures meet. At a Figures meet, each swimmer performs 4 figures (stunts/tricks), one at a time, for 5 judges who try to be as objective as possible. They throw out the high & low, and use the remaining 3 scores for points. The young novice team members were all paired with a "big buddy" who helped them get prepared and where they needed to be at the right times. Their big buddies are teenagers on the Age Group team competing at a more competitive level. In the age 8-under group, Addisyn scored 5th place with 25.8361 points and Piper scored 2nd place with 33.1519 points (out of 5 participants in that age group). Karen took a blue ribbon (only one in my age group) with 51.3821 points.
The buddy system not only helps them learn what to do at a meet, it is a great team building experience--since the older girls are responsible for teaching and coaching the youngers, and the youngers feel attended to and really connected to the rest of the team. I got the girls to pose with their buddies and ribbons after the December meet: Addisyn with Samantha, and Piper with Alexandra.
In February, we had a full syncro meet with figures and routines. For figures, there were 12 participants in the 10-under age group, and the girls were wondering why their names weren't called for awards, so I explained that they only give ribbons to the top scorers. They seemed to understand that they are new to the sport and are learning so they need to keep trying and pay attention at practice if they want to place at meets. They only did 2 figures this time, one of which they had just learned and didn't have much time to practice. Most of their scores are between 2.0 and 3.0. Addisyn earned 22.0877 points (11th place), and Piper earned 20.7661 points (12th place). Karen earned scores between 5.0-6.0 and totaled 54.6571 points.
ADDISYN BACK TUCK
DOLPHIN ADDISYN
PIPER WARM UP with Big Buddy Alexandra coaching her from the side.
KAREN PRACTICING FRONT WALKOVER during meet warm ups.
PIPER BENT KNEE START OF BALLET LEG
Ballet Leg = lay on back at surface of water (ideally chest and thighs dry), bend one knee bringing toes of one foot to knee of straight leg, then keep thigh vertical and straighten leg to straight up.
Back Tuck Somersault = start in back layout, tuck knees up to chest in a tight ball and roll backwards.
Kip = start like a Back Tuck Somersault but stop the roll when upside down, then keeping feet together, straighten legs from the tuck, through an upside down seated position, and shoot into a straight vertical legs in the air.
Dolphin = start on back, arch head and back down and make a big back-bend type loop underwater, returning to back layout.
Tower = start on surface on stomach, pike body down so backs of legs are both dry at surface and head is towards bottom of pool, raise one straight leg to a vertical keeping other leg straight at water's surface (this is a Fishtail position), hold in this 90° position, then bring the second leg up to match the first leg, sink straight down, and back tuck up to the surface.
Prawn = begin like a Tower, but instead of stopping at vertical, pass through vertical and over into splits, hold, then control your downward descent while bringing legs together so that ankles stay at surface of water the whole time, then sink completely under, and back tuck up to surface.
Front Walkover = begins like a Prawn into splits, but then second leg follows the same arc first leg made so tops of legs stop on water's surface with head still towards bottom of pool, then use hand sculls to let body move in direction of toes unrolling back arc into a back layout at surface.
Baraccuda = start in back layout, fold body while sinking hips keeping toes just under surface and chest to thighs/knees, then unroll back/body so that straight legs rise out of water as high as possible precisely 90° vertical, then sink straight down, back tuck up to surface.
After figures, is what everyone loves to watch in synchronized swimming, the routines! The novice girls performed their "Pineapple Princess" routine. The girls practice their routine dryland and in the water nearly every day in preparation. They learned the words to the whole song and can now practice it even without music.For routines, they wore headpieces to match their fancy routine suit, so that meant painting Knox gelatin in their hair and securing it with a handful of bobbi pins, then using even more bobbi pins to secure the headpiece around the bun so that nothing would move or fall when wet or shaken around. It took 20-30 minutes each to put their hair up (I did it the night before), and another 40 min to wash it all out afterwards. We wear a team suit for warm ups, a black suit for figures, and a fancy suit for routines, so between the three of us, we washed out 8 bathing suits for the day.
The name of the February meet was the "Cupid Classic", so they had a hearts/valentines theme. Looking to make it a fun and special event, some moms created a photo booth complete with fun props. Piper did not want to take off her brand new sparkly routine suit and kept asking for a reapplication of lipstick all day, even after performing.
The teams stretched together and warmed up in the pool, then the little kids got a morning break while the older kids competed. They had a healthy snack and a few, like Addisyn here, had to wipe gelatin off their shoulders and backs that had dripped from their hair.
After figures, girls changed into their brand new sparkly (custom hand made) routine suits and put on head pieces to match. They had a chance to practice their routine on deck before performing in the water.
Piper was in a duet with AutumnGlenn. It might keep the lifeguards on the edge of their seats, but it is so cute that they can barely keep their heads out of the water. In this picture they are eggbeatering towards the end of their routine.
Piper's duo got 1st out of two groups; Addisyn's trio was the only one, so they both got a blue ribbon medal to wear.
AutumnGlenn and Piper chillin' on the lifeguard chair.
Karen's Masters team is still working on their routine. It is hard to synchronize when adult schedules are so varied. And with an age spread of 24-60 years old, our physical strengths are so varied as well. We will be ready to perform our routine by the next meet in May.
The season is now kicking into high gear with the big girls traveling to nationals this month, and we all have events in May, June, and July, with the team water show finale the last weekend of July.
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| Heading into practice (at Mount Miguel HS); they have to carry their own backpacks. |
When we started last fall, I wasn't sure if the girls would make it long term. I wasn't sure how committed they would be after a couple months of tiring practices and getting out of the pool on cold Wednesday nights, but when they made it through December and still liked it, I spent the money to get their gear embroidered with the team logo. They have parkas to keep them warm, team jackets, and backpacks as big as they are.
1 comment:
This is an amazing journey you are letting the girls experience with the Syncro team. It is a bit scary that I had trouble recognizing Piper. I think I've seen her with bangs so long or something. I didn't have any trouble recognizing Addisyn.
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