How did male synchronized swimming appear? What preceded the birth of this sport? Where and when did the first competitions take place? The answers to these and other questions we will consider in this article.
A little background
Initially, synchronized swimming was not a sport. Dances in water, round dances and games were often included in the entertainment program of various events. Over time, a term such as "artistic swimming" and "figured" appeared.
At first, there were no women at all among the art swimmers. Only men were engaged in such swimming. But gradually, the first female figured swimmers began to appear.
In 1891, demonstrations took place in Berlin. Male swimmers performed. Both women's and men's synchronized swimming began to attract people more and more. There were still more men in this area, and in 1892 the first group in artistic swimming was founded in England. Here, male swimmers learned to perform various figures and combinations on water.
A little later, at the beginning of the 20th century, the Seagull swimming club was founded in France. It was this association that played a significant role in its popularization. And very soon it spread to a number of countries in Europe and North America.
How "artistic" became "synchronous"
In 1952, sports competitions were held in Helsinki. Then it was decided to organize demonstration performances on artistic swimming. American athletes performed. The organizers were delighted with the unusual and elegant performance of complex combinations on the water.
The worked out and coordinated movements of the athletes became the reason for renaming "artistic" swimming to "synchronous".
Thanks to the efforts and success of American swimmers, synchronized swimming has won international recognition and has officially become a sport.
Where did men's synchronized swimming go?
The sport, which originally emerged as a man, over time has become completely female. Since 1984, synchronized swimming has been part of the Olympic Games program.
From 1984 to 1996, the largest number of victories in this sport belonged to the representatives of the USA, Japan and Canada.
Interesting Facts
- During the performance and training, synchronized athletes put a special clothespin on their nose. This is done so that while you are at depth and when performing tricks, there is no accidental inhalation of the nose and water does not enter the lungs.
- Athletes cover their hair with gelatin. It is he who keeps the neat shape of the hairstyle, which even water can not ruin.
- Makeup is made as bright as possible so that facial expressions and face look more spectacular from the audience and from the TV screens. And so that water does not wash away the cosmetics, for example, athletes add petroleum jelly in the eye shadow.
- Under water, special speakers are installed. Thanks to them, even at the bottom of the pool you can hear music that plays in the hall. This helps athletes not to lose their rhythm and perform dance combinations and figures as synchronously as possible.
- The volume of lungs in synchronized women is twice as large as in people who are not involved in swimming. As a rule, it is more than four liters. Due to this peculiarity, synchronized synchronizers can be under water without oxygen for more than three minutes. Record of Natalia Ishchenko - 3.5 minutes, Svetlana Romashkina - 4.5 minutes. World record for about 9 minutes.
- In synchronized swimming there is a lot of “no”: touching the bottom, putting on jewelry and something other than a swimsuit, stopping during a performance, rehearsing combinations outside the pool.
Men return to synchronized swimming
Today, this sport is not only women. Men's synchronized swimming has partially revived. In some countries, so far only at the national level, in some at amateur and non-professional.
In the Olympic program, there is no pure male synchronized swimming yet. The 2016 Olympics and previous competitions confirm this. But synchronized men are already taking part in the world championships. Mixed duets appeared, in such, for example, Russian synchronized singers Darina Valitova and Alexander Maltsev.
In Germany, the German national Nicholas Shtopel is in the synchronized swimming team. He dreams of getting into the international arena, but so far he can be content only with success at the national level.
Perhaps in the near future the first men's synchronized swimming team will nevertheless appear. Then for men will open the same opportunities in this sport that women have. But for now, one can only guess.