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by adencliffe on July 14th, 2008

adencliffe

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Would you consider Synchronized swimming a sport? Why or why not?

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  • by lolcats45382919 on December 6th, 2010

    lolcats45382919

    Excuse me, but I get downright pissed when people say synchronized swimming is not a sport. I was a former synchronized swimmer, as a child, and I must say, anyone who says it's not a sport has obviously never tried it.

    First off, I'd like to see the offenders get into the water and swim a couple laps using one breath. That is a drill all synchronized swimming practice. Try holding your breath underwater more than a minute, as well as being perfectly upside down doing the splits. Then add that to routines and constant collision with teammates, and you have something right there.

    If synchronized swimming is not a sport, you're going to have to take down figure skating too, and don't even mention cheerleading. I'm a figure skater at the age of twelve, and I do less work than I did as a ten year old synchronized swimming. My best friend is a competitive cheerleader and practices more than ten hours less than I did as a synchronized swimmer. Most synchronized swimmers join competitive swimming to improve their swimming skills, which adds on to their workloads.

    You're not allowed to touch the bottom of the pool at any time or you will be disqualified. As a fifth grade competitive synchronized swimmer, I practiced two hours every single day, starting from the day I joined the club with no experience. Clubs like mine were extremely competitive and couldn't let you miss out a single practice.

    Plus, we have to lift people into the air without any ground. Then the flyer must attempt to flip off the apex and dive perfectly into the water twelve feet below without giving herself a belly flop. Sounds fun. I would know because I was the flyer. That's right, as a fifth grader, I survived failed belly flops, hours of constant eggbeater, and makeup leaking into my blurry eyes. Being a figure skater is a piece of cake compared to being a competitive synchronized swimmer.

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  • by adencliffe on July 14th, 2008

    adencliffe

    First of all, as a synchronized swimmer I would say yes, and here are some points:

    1. We count, follow music, hold our breat, remember our routine, keep our legs/upper body out of the water, are constantly in movement for about 5 minutes.
    2. You have to be able to hold your breath for a very long time WHILE tired.
    3. Keeping your upper body out of the water as high as you can is extremely difficult for long periods of time.
    4. Keeping legs out of the water is a lot more difficult than you think.
    5. Sometimes we lift people out of the water.
    6. Average synchro swimmers like myself train for about 2-3 hours 4 times a week.
    7. No, we do not touch the bottom of the pool at any time of the routine.
    8. It requires extreme flexiblity.
    9. We do laps as a workout just like "the real swimmers," just synchro has some flair in it, not just laps in a pool.
    10. We make it seem easy.

    Anybody want to go against that? Be my guest.

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  • by Alyymarie on February 6th, 2012

    Alyymarie

    I would like to say in response of lolcats45382919 on December 6th, 2010, I do not think you have the right to say that synchronized swimming is any different than figure skating because it seems to me you clearly are NOT a competitive figure skater or competitive cheerleader. I was and am. I did competitive cheerleading from age 6 to age 13. I'd love to see you do a layout. let alone half the things in stunts that we did, as i was a flyer. I have been ice skating since i was three. PLEASE do not say it is a piece of cake. I have been waking up at 4:30 am every day since i was in 8th grade, i am a senior in high school now. You have no understanding of the sport. because at age 12 i doubt you are landing triple triples, and i really dont think youve passed senior free, senior mitf and all three gold senior dances. once you have done ALL of that, i would like you to then add to your life synchronized figure skating. which is just and if not harder then swimming. you have only 4 min on the ice, you have 20 other girls to skate with in unison and perfect timing, you have 40 pairs of blades moving at speeds you cant even begin to understand. Being a competitive synchronized figure skater i can hold my breath underwater for over a minute and its really not hard. I skate 6 hours in the mornings a week, plus two hours three nights a week after school, and then five hours on both saturday and sunday. I cant even begin to start on what happens when missing a practice. With synchronized figure skating you not only have to have mastered your mitf and dance but must keep up in free style this mean you are not only a competitive individual skater but also now you add to the mix an entire different type of skating. in skating you spin at over 200 rpms. i really dont think that happens in swimming. Now the foot work that consist in the programs, oh did i mention you have a short program and a long, so theres the four minute program where we have lifts too, dont worry we set our girls back down on the ice after they do a full split and twist and flip over us while moving while only three girls hold another girl above their head. and then theres a short program which is over two minutes. When i watch synchronized swimming i am not drawn in, when almost any body watch figure skating they are amazed. So please do not parade around that synchronized swimming is SO hard you are being COMPLETELY ignorant and foolish. As i was saying before the footwork in our programs, edges, your blade has two, if you are on the wrong one and only you are for just a second the judges see and that entire element wont be called, and you lose points. The speed that is required cannot be understood swimming, you also dont sweat.. you are losing the aspects considering your age but honestly your excused. I have tried synchro swimming didnt enjoy it because i dont like swimming, didnt find it all that hard. And as you clearly are not still swimming theres another thing, skating is for life. a true athlete knows that, and once you have started skating and found the passion for it you understand why it is so difficult. you can skate your free one day and have all your jumps and spins to the t and then ten min late run it again and fall on every jump because of something as simple as your arm didnt pull in fast enough your leg wasnt in the perfect position or the worst you just lost that jump, which means theres nothing you can really do but keep trying and keep falling. I have had more injurys from skating then any other sport. being bladed, herniated a disk in my spin blowing out both knees, but no matter what you stand up and you keep going. in synchro if you get sliced during a competition and you are bleeding everywhere it doesnt matter, you get up and you keep skating untill the music ends or the judge blows the wishle and even then they patch you up and you go back on the ice. skating is NOT a piece of cake hun. get your facts together. and stop being ignorant. thank you. (:

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  • by demmasds on January 26th, 2012

    demmasds

    I am a former synchronized swimmer and I agree with the others. It may seem easy because we make it look easy...the olympic synchro team practices 10 hours everyday for 6 days.

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  • by Tom Slick on December 6th, 2010

    Tom Slick

    I would say sport ... one of my main criteria for determining if something is a sport is whether or not you drink beer while doing it ... for example, baseball, football, basketball, NASCAR = sports ... bowling, golf, ping-pong = leisure activities ...

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  • by demmasds on January 26th, 2012

    demmasds

    Oh and to add on...when we do leg movements, you use your arms for support and it LITERALLY feels like you're holding your breath and running a mile at the SAME TIME.

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