Those training to be synchro swimmers must first master two basics, Katz says: sculling and the eggbeater kick.
"Sculling propels you in the water," she says. It's done by waving the arms and hands beside the body. "It's like doing a figure-eight motion on your (body's) side...like you're washing a pane of glass. It looks easy, but you're working hard."
The eggbeater kick—with legs split and knees bent in front of the swimmer—is also used in water polo. Synchro swimmers use it to keep themselves high in the water and their arms free for movements. From there, the sport builds on strokes such as the freestyle and backstroke while incorporating hand and arm gestures. Then, more complicated movements such as backflips and leg raises are added, along with a good dose of the kind of artistic expression found in dance.
During a recent practice, Rose speaks into a microphone that broadcasts her instructions to students via underwater speakers. She works first on participants' swimming skills, giving them tips on improving their techniques as they swim laps. After warming up, each student does "over and unders" to improve lung capacity, taking a deep breath, then pushing off the wall and swimming underwater for the pool's width. It can take up to a year to do the 25 yards in one breath, she says.
After that, the girls do "bottle work"—holding onto large, empty laundry detergent bottles for flotation as they practice somersaults and other moves.
"Then you get into the routining, which has them put these things together," explains Rose, 75, who found the sport as a teenager and likes to begin swimmers at age seven or older. The final product, of course, is those fluid swim/dance routines put to music.
This Sport Has Everything
Though its participants know better, synchro still is generally viewed as being more artistic than athletic. In fact, it didn't become an Olympic sport until 1984, Katz says.
Still, it's more exception than norm at Central Florida pools. The aquatic center is the only YMCA facility offering a synchronized-swimming program. And although Orlando's aquatics program offers the sport as part of its summer program, the classes often are canceled for lack of participants, says Tyrone Walker, the city's aquatics program manager.
Though the program is tailored to children, Walker says they would consider offering it to adults if they were interested. But the sport takes practice to learn, and he's not optimistic about adult participation. "They're too busy" with their lives. However, "if adults wanted it, we'd do it."
Katz works with adults in her co-ed program in New York City. "It is so nice because it's a group effort," she says. "We have a blast."
Dannyfer Cepeda, whose daughter, Valentina, 10, swims with the Loreleis in Orlando, says the sport has everything the youngster wants. "She loves it. Finally we found a sport that has dance, swimming and a team element."
"All these girls are mermaids," Henson says, as she watches Megan queue up in formation in the pool. "They really are."