Our sport
Synchronized swimming requires a high level of self-discipline, training participants for real-life situations both as individuals and in group dynamics. Together, team members develop co-ordination, strength, agility, power and grace through choreography of movements to music. The emphasis is on maximum skill, expression and ease of execution, all specific body movements in harmony with each other.
Judging of routines consists of two marks: technical merit and artistic impression. Technical merit includes execution, synchronization and degree of difficulty and comprises 60 per cent of the total mark. Artistic impression-the rest of the total mark-is based on choreography, interpretation of music and manner of presentation. Figures competitions consist of a group of four figures, each judged by a panel of judges out of a total mark of 10 points.
The sport can be traced back to a Royal Life aquatic demonstration of "ornamental swimming" in Montreal in 1924. That exhibition was so well received that Quebec was soon running provincial championships in the sport. Since that time, synchronized swimming has become recognized in more than 30 countries round the world. And Canada has been a world-class contender for more than 20 years.
In 1984, the sport was introduced as an Olympic sport to the Los Angeles Summer Games. Canada won silver in both solo and duet events that year. Canada took gold in the 1988 Seoul Olympics in both events, and gold and silver in Barcelona 1992. In 1996, team events replaced solo and duet events. Canada took the silver medal that year in Atlanta. But in 1997, the Olympic committee approved the return of duets competition, in time for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Canada finished fifth in the 2000 Olympic duets competition and took the bronze medal in the team event.
