I remember when I realized that my daughter had made up her mind that synchro was her thing. I thought she looked great, but the judges obviously didn’t agree. Some of the routines were a lot more boring than my daughter’s team so what’s the deal with the low scores? The coaches would tell me she was really improving, but I didn’t have a clear idea of what that meant. Then I went to observe some practices and heard corrections like, “You’re on your face.” Come again?! She was floating on her back! So perhaps, like me, you find yourself bewildered by your daughter’s thing, and of course, you want to be supportive beyond saying, “You looked really good to me!” when she asks how she did her figures…maybe this will help.
Sychronized swimming is truly an aquatic blend of gymnastics and dance. If you think about the Olympics, you know that these scores are subjective to the judge based on objectives. That means that despite rigorous judges’ training, scores will vary and remain mysterious to some of us who observe the sport. (I personally think that this is true even within the judging community.) To compensate for this, judges work in panels, the more judges, the more balanced scores will be…
Figures: You need to know that the girls’ figures scores are 50% of their overall team score. So while figure scores are individual, they are also part of the team’s overall score. What does this mean? It means that a team may have a good routine and be in 3rd place for routines, but when awards are announced they may end up in 4th or 5th if their figures are weak or vice versa in 2nd place if their figures are good. Figures are important.
There are basically two things that judges are looking for: design (body positions (in bold) + transitions+ body movements) and control (how well the design is performed). Let’s start with design; this is how the rules state the figure should be done. Our coaches are good about providing the girls with little diagrams of this, but some of us never see them. At USA Synchro’s website, you can access everything from video demonstrations to the handbook of all the rules and everything you want to know about competitions, colleges, the Olympic team, documentaries, etc… They are official; I’m just a mom, but here goes. Ballet leg, everybody has to do it so it’s easy, right? Think again.
Okay, so back layout p.54 (floating on back?)
Rule Book Description/ Major Desired Actions
1. Body extended with face, chest, thighs and feet at the surface./ Gives the impression that the body is stretched horizontally to its maximum. Front of the trunk will also be at the surface of the water.
2. Head (ears specifically), hips and ankles in line./Judgement made by checking visual points of the horizontal
alignment: ear, shoulder joint, hip joint and ankle. This imaginary line should also pass through the middle
of the side of the trunk.
So, this is just the design part of the beginning of the figure!!! The swimmer must now transition either the right or left leg into a bent knee back layout p.59
1. Body extended in Back Layout Position./In BP 1 Back Layout Position, Ear, shoulder joint, hip joint and ankle of extended leg as close as possible to horizontal alignment.
2. The thigh of the bent leg is perpendicular to the surface./90° angle between the thigh and surface, and as close as possible to 90° between the thigh and trunk. At maximum height, a large air pocket will be evident between the backs of the thigh and calf of the bent knee, and the surface of the water.
Then your daughter transitions into the ballet leg. P.55
1. Body in Back Layout Position.
2. One leg extended perpendicular to the surface./ 90° angle between extended leg and surface. Angle of ballet leg to
trunk as close to 90° as possible. Ear, shoulder joint, hip joint and ankle of horizontal leg as close as possible to horizontal alignment.
My dear fellow synchro watchers and well-wishers, allow me to pause halfway through this figure to tell you that this is near to impossible to accomplish as written. Permit me to explain the challenges: your bottom sinks as you shift the weight of a leg above it; much like a ballet dancer, it is difficult for the swimmer to judge when the thigh is at a 90 degree angle, but our girls don’t have mirrors to check themselves so they tend to “put their leg over their chest to compensate for comfort, strength, and flexibility to lift the leg AKA “on her face.” The difficulties don’t stop there, but we’ll move along.
Now let’s talk about control. I will say that control is when the swimmer “gives the impression” that what they are doing is the easiest so they are relaxed. I used to think after watching other swimmers who were receiving higher scores that this meant slow. No…but if you can do the whole thing at an even, slower TEMPO and make it look easy, stretched out= E X T E N D E D legs (no shaking) while at the same time maintaining your height in the water (no sinking); you have achieved control.
Respect your girls…figures are as much about mental as well as physical preparation & most figures require all this without breathing! Figures are brutally difficult and impossible to perform correctly without body awareness, strength and flexibility which all develop over time with effort.
Here is the link to USA Synchro’s education/education resources/FINA resources page:
http://www.usasynchro.org/Education/Educational_Resources/FINA_Resources.htm
Click on the video that corresponds to your daughter’s age group to watch a demonstration (not a 10!)
The pages that I referred to above are found in the 2009-2013 FINA Synchronized Swimming Manual (for Coaches, Judges, and Referees) I suggest looking at p.35-40 for general guidelines. P.47-53 show all figures and the body positions judges watch for in diagram form.
Now when your girl asks how she did, you can tell her, “Your extension was so much better!” or “You weren’t on your face!”
Happy Synchro, Everybody!
Pam Parron-Saletri
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