Synchronized swimming

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Synchronized swimmers

Synchronized swimming or artificial swimming is a form of swimming that can be swum to music, alone, in pairs, in a group or in a combination of one to ten people. Synchronous here refers to both the synchronicity with the music and that of the individual swimmers with one another. Synchronized swimming for women is an Olympic discipline. The German Swimming Association lets men take part in competitions. According to FINA rules, men have been internationally admitted to the mixed duet discipline since 2015 . FINA also changed the name synchronized swimming in 2017 to artistic swimming . Sport requires high physical performance with a lack of air, a rhythmic feeling for music and flexibility.

The closely related round swimming is limited to laying figures with several people in the water, also known as laying pictures. Music is only used as background music and the change of characters is indicated by hand signals from the edge of the pool or bank.

history

Synchronized swimming has been around since the end of the 19th century under the name of "water ballet" or "Reigenschwimmen". But dance swimming also existed in ancient times. Clark Leach was an important pioneer of synchronized swimming .

Swimming with fictional characters is mentioned for the first time in Germany in 1816. One of the first competitions took place in Berlin in 1891. At that time it was still a purely male sport. In 1903 the Isarnixen were founded in Munich (women's round swimming group), from 1907 women also took part in the competitions. Gradually they almost completely supplanted men in this discipline.

Figure swimming of the Berlin women's swimming club "Nixe" in the wave pool in the Lunapark in Berlin (November 1932)

The Australian Annette Kellerman appeared in 1907 as the first underwater ballerina in a glass water tank in New York City and made the "water ballet" known. Katherine Curtis formulated competition rules for America, which form the basis for today's regulations. An important contribution to the international acceptance of synchronized swimming as a sport was made by Beulah Gundling , who presented synchronized swimming as an individual discipline as part of a swim at both the Pan American Games in 1951 and the Summer Olympics in 1952 and who won the individual gold medal at the Pan American Games in 1955. Among the most important male synchronized swimmers around 1950 were Donn Squire and Bert Hubbard , who had to end his sporting career after the ban on male participants in competitions and then appeared at festivals of the International Academy of Aquatic Art . Synchronized swimming received special media attention from Esther Williams in the “Aqua Musicals” produced by Hollywood.

In 1957 the first national competition in artificial swimming took place in Germany. Synchronized swimming has been officially recognized by FINA as the fourth discipline (alongside swimming, diving and water polo) since 1968 . In 1983, the IOC allowed FINA to host synchronized swimming competitions, and it became an Olympic competition for the first time at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. One of the most important international youth competitions in synchronized swimming is the COMEN Cup . From Germany, among others, Christine Lang (Isarnixe) Christine Lang / DSVM Isarnixen 1984 in Los Angeles, 1988 Gerlind Scheller (single place 8) and Heike Friedrich / Freie Schwimmer Bochum (duet place 11) and Doris Eisenhofer / DSVM Isarnixen took part in the Olympic Games in Seoul, Margit Schreib / DSVM Isarnixen and Monika Müller from TV Markgröningen in 1992 in Barcelona.

After long years of dominance by the USA and Canada, Russia has dominated the past few years. However, no one could endanger Virgine Dedieu in solo until her resignation in 2007. Russian supremacy is currently threatened by Spain and Japan, and Canada and China are also making a strong impact.

competition

Competitions are currently held in four disciplines: solo, duet, group (with four to eight participants) and the combination (up to ten swimmers, variation of solo, duet and group parts). In some countries there is also the trio discipline. There are different age groups. It starts with age group E, followed by D, C, B, A and juniors. From the age of 20, swimmers can also take part in master’s competitions. In the so-called “open” competitions, all age groups compete against each other without restrictions, in Germany only at the German championships.

As with figure skating , points are awarded in the evaluation of a freestyle (1 to 10 or 1 to 100). The difficulty of the performance, the technical implementation (synchronicity, height of the jumps, are the figures stable and accurate) and the artistic value are assessed. "Synchronicity" means both the synchronicity with the music and between the swimmers. The higher the number of swimmers, the stronger the synchronicity with each other. There is a technical freestyle ("compulsory") that lasts up to 2:50 minutes, and a free freestyle ("freestyle") from 4:45 to 5:15 minutes. In the technical freestyle, given elements must be carried out in a certain order. In the Free Freestyle, however, there are no specifications.

Free freestyle

Swimming goggles are not permitted during the (free) freestyle competition . Bathing caps are not forbidden during a freestyle competition, but are more likely to be avoided. Instead, the hair is pinned up in a bun and "glued" to the head with the previously warm gelatine so that the hairstyle stays under water. The bun can be decorated with different headgear such as crowns / pins. The swimmers on a team usually all wear the same swimsuit, colored and embroidered with sequins . The ornate swimsuits and headgear are intended to create a greater affinity for music and enhance the show effect.

Technical freestyle

In this, the swimmer (or, in rare cases, the swimmer) has to perform exercises that consist of several important elements in synchronized swimming (formations, types of movement, jumps). These become more and more demanding depending on the age. FINA defines the compulsory exercises for a period of four years. The judges also give points to the duty. At some competitions, the obligation also counts as qualification for a final. There, certain points are set that you have to adhere to in order not to have to pay a fine. All swimmers must wear a black bathing suit and a white swimming cap. Diving masks are allowed.

Participation of men

Originally only performed by men, synchronized swimming became an only female sport in the 1950s. After years of discussion, FINA introduced a rule change to the mixed duet competition for the 2015 World Championships, making it possible for men to participate in international competitions for the first time. The American Bill May became the first male world champion in the sport. At the Olympic Games, the sport is still only possible for women. The first active German male competitive swimmer, Niklas Stoepel , who took part in a world championship for the first time in 2017, lives in Bochum .

The first male synchronized swimming group in Europe and the only one in Germany has existed in Frankfurt since 1998. The group of the Frankfurt Volleyball Club is represented at the German Masters Championships as well as at international competitions such as the Outgames , EuroGames and Gay Games . The story of three male synchronized swimmers on their way to participate in German championships is told in the documentary Der Traum vom Schweben (2004) by Barbara Gräftner . The same topic ("aim of participating in synchronized swimming championships") combined with the topic "men in midlife crises" is taken up by several other films:

various

Synchronized swimming is often ridiculed. The fans of the sport, on the other hand, emphasize that a synchronized swimmer must have similar skills to a floor gymnast , a competitive swimmer , a figure skater, a water polo player and a dancer , and all without solid ground under her feet. On top of that, grace and agility are required, and coordinating movement with the other members of the group is particularly difficult. Well-known German synchronized swimming clubs are the Fördenixen from Flensburg, the Isarnixen of the ladies swimming club v. 1903 from Munich, the swimming club Wedding , the Donaunixen , the synchro team of TSV Eintracht Karlsfeld , or the 1st SC Flamingo Zwickau , the most famous Swiss club the Limmat-Nixen from Zurich.

Medal table

Status: August 9, 2019. The first synchronized swimming world championships took place in 1973, with the solo, duet and group competitions. In 2003 the program was expanded to include team combinations, and in 2007 three more competitions were added, and the solo, duet and group competitions were now divided into free freestyle and technique freestyle. In 2015 the program was expanded to nine competitions, plus the mixed duet, now there are ten competitions.

swim
Item country gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal Total
1 RussiaRussia Russia 60 5 - 65
2 United StatesUnited States United States 14th 10 6th 30th
3 CanadaCanada Canada 8th 10 8th 26th
4th FranceFrance France 3 2 2 7th
5 JapanJapan Japan 2 13 33 48
6th China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 1 26th 6th 33
7th SpainSpain Spain 1 20th 19th 40
8th ItalyItaly Italy 1 4th 3 8th
9 UkraineUkraine Ukraine 1 1 14th 16
Total 91 91 91 273

Most successful female athletes

space Surname country From To gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal total
01 Natalia Ishchenko RussiaRussia Russia 2005 2015 19th 2 - 21st
02 Svetlana Romaschina RussiaRussia Russia 2005 2015 18th - - 18th
03 Anastasija Davydova RussiaRussia Russia 2001 2011 13 1 - 14th
04th Alexandra Pazkewitsch RussiaRussia Russia 2009 2017 13 - - 13
04th Svetlana Kolesnichenko RussiaRussia Russia 2011 2017 13 - - 13
06th Anselika Timanina RussiaRussia Russia 2009 2015 11 - - 11
06th Alla Shishkina RussiaRussia Russia 2009 2015 11 - - 11
08th Elvira Hasjanova RussiaRussia Russia 2001 2011 10 - - 10
09 Maria Gromova RussiaRussia Russia 2001 2011 9 - - 9
010 Anastassija Yermakova RussiaRussia Russia 2001 2007 8th 2 - 10

See also

Web links

Commons : Synchronized Swimming  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Synchronized swimming  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ FINA to introduce mixed gender events in diving and synchronized swimming . ( insidethegames.biz [accessed January 10, 2018]).
  2. ↑ Clark Leach, Father of Synchronized Swimming. * SS Scrapbooks (1950s), Henning Library, ISHOF, 1941.
  3. ↑ Video of B. Gundling's Thunderbird program at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki ( Memento of the original from May 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the ISHOF website. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ishof.org
  4. ↑ Dawn Pawson Bean: Synchronized swimming - An American history. (E-Book) McFarland Company Inc. Publishers, Jefferson (North Carolina, USA), 2005. Contains information on Donn Squire and Bert Hubbard, p. 51.
  5. ^ Synchro History - A compilation. (PDF; 65 kB) Article by Sue Edwards, 2010.
  6. ↑ FINA to introduce mixed gender events in diving and synchronized swimming . ( insidethegames.biz [accessed January 10, 2018]).
  7. ^ Christoph Becker: Delicate Revolution: Synchronized swimming becomes male . In: FAZ.NET . July 29, 2015, ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed January 10, 2018]).
  8. ↑ Russia outraged by “male mermaids” . In: sueddeutsche.de . July 24, 2015, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed January 10, 2018]).
  9. ^ STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft mbH: "Anruch des Gay": Synchronized swimmers unwanted at the Olympics . In: derStandard.at . ( derstandard.at [accessed on January 10, 2018]).
  10. ↑ DIE WELT: Synchronized swimmer Niklas Stoepel breaks into a women's domain . In: THE WORLD . July 15, 2017 ( welt.de [accessed January 10, 2018]).
  11. ↑ The dream of floating in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  12. ↑ The Swimsuit Issue in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  13. ↑ Swimming with Men in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  14. ↑ A basin full of men in the Internet Movie Database (English)