Introduction

Synchronized swimming is a women’s sport. It originated in Germany, the United Kingdom and other European countries in the 1920s. It was originally an aquatic performance event during the interval of swimming competitions. It is choreographed by swimming, skills, dance and music, and is known as "water ballet". Synchronized swimming is an artistic and elegant sport that also requires strength and skill and requires many years of continuous training to master. There are ten judges watching their every move, and many sets of presses, rotations, and bends must be performed on the sports field, all of which cannot be done with the help of the ground at the bottom of the pool. You also need to stretch without breathing, and perform the routine for five minutes while performing. Even during the most demanding routines, water ballet athletes strive to maintain a relaxed imagination.

History

Synchronized swimming originated in Europe. In 1920, Katherine Curtis, the founder of synchronized swimming, choreographed diving and gymnastics tumbling movements into a set for performance in the water. After 1930, it was introduced to the United States and Canada, and on the original basis, it was gradually added with dance, music and rhythm. Initially, it was only used as an entertainment program between the two swimming competitions. Later, it gradually incorporated dance and music and became a beautiful water sports event. In 1934, it held its first performance at the World's Fair in Chicago, USA, which made it famous. In 1937, Coster established the world's first synchronized swimming club. In 1942, the American Amateur Athletic Union recognized synchronized swimming as an official event. It was listed as an Olympic performance event in 1952. It was recognized by the International Swimming Federation in 1956. The 1st World Synchronized Swimming Championships were held in 1973. In the 23rd Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, it became an official event of the Olympic Games, with single and double events. In 1984, synchronized swimming was listed as an official event, with two gold medals for women's double and team.

Synchronized swimming has only been developed in my country for a short time and is still in its infancy. Since 1983, our country has invited experts from Japan, the United States, Canada and other countries to give lectures in China. The first synchronized swimming championships were held in August 1984. In 1987, the 6th National Games included it as an official event. The United States and Canada shared all the gold medals in the first four Olympic Games since the establishment of synchronized swimming competition. However, as the main players retired after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Russia and Japan began to emerge and dominated the 1998 World Championships. China, France and Italy are also making rapid progress on this project. In Asia, China has obvious advantages in this event. Japan and South Korea will bring certain challenges to China. Winning the gold medal will be the goal of Chinese synchronized swimming athletes.

Competition format

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, water ballet will only consist of two forms: women's duo and one large group. Eight groups of athletes (a group consists of eight athletes, including a substitute) and twenty-four pairs will compete. The duo's competition will begin with a preliminary round, in which they will perform routine technical movements and perform free performances. The top twelve pairs in the preliminaries will perform their own choreography in the finals. In the large group competition, there are no preliminaries, and eight teams will directly enter the finals. They will perform routine movements and self-composed movements.

Technical Actions

The requirements for conventional technical actions are strict. Although athletes can choose their own musical accompaniment, they must perform a set of routines according to regulations. The designated movements are re-established every four years by the Water Ballet Sports Technical Committee. An athlete must complete a routine within 10 seconds, a double team must complete it within 20 seconds, and a large group must complete it within 2 minutes and 50 seconds.

Free Performance

Eights and duos choose their own music and moves in a free performance. Their goal was to create a set of moves that was creative and identifiable, and that included difficult moves. Such a set should contain changes in mood and speed, as well as innovative moves, complex combinations and variations of combinations, as well as spectacular moves. Time for free performance: 4 minutes for a duo and 5 minutes for a group of eight.

Surface Stay

In all maneuvers, the athlete has 10 seconds to stay afloat, if the athlete chooses it. This action can give a good impression to the referee and the audience.

Although this action is not included in the scoring range, it can make a good first impression.

Technical value

Technical value refers to how well an athlete performs special movements. It consists of three parts: execution, coordination, and difficulty.

Execution: Execution depends on the game's approach, advancement techniques and form. Athletes should be able to perform movements with ease and ease in the water. The judges also look at the endurance of the athletes. A top athlete should maintain a high-quality stroke and make good use of propulsion techniques from the beginning to the end of the game, and their patterns should be as concise at the end of the game as they were at the beginning. And there is difficulty.

Coordination: In this aspect, the referee will look at the coordination of the athletes with their teammates and the music. Members of an eight-person or two-person team should be coordinated in their movements, positions, and changes of position. They have to coordinate their movements both on and off the water.

Difficulty: When considering difficulty, judges look at the athlete's skill and strength. The referee also looks at the athlete's swimming method in the water and the difficulty of the tricks. Another consideration is the "risk element" - athletes have to perform difficult skills in the competition.

Artistic impression

Artistic impression refers to the overall feeling of the action combination. Judges who judge artistic impression look at the creativity and variety of an athlete's combination of movements. They look at the coherence of the athletes' movements and whether the movements express the changes in mood expressed by the music.

Scoring and deductions

Just like diving and gymnastics, judges use special standards to score athletes, with a maximum score of 10 points. The referee calculates the points to one decimal place. Two of the five judges are near the edge of the pool, one judging technical merit and the other considering the artistic performance of the players.

After the referee has completed his consideration, the scoring for the athletes begins. Next, the highest and lowest scores among the five-person referee panel are removed, and the remaining three scores are averaged. Then, 60% of the average score is added to the technical value score. The technical value score is multiplied by 6 and the artistic impression score is multiplied by 4. The sum of these two scores is equal to the score of the action combination. This isn't over yet. To determine who is the champion and the ranking, regular performances and free performances give 35% and 65% of the combined final scores respectively. Obviously free performances are more important. To calculate the final score, the regular performance and free performance are multiplied by 0.35 and 0.65 respectively, and the two items are added together to get the final score.

During regular performances and free performances, athletes who commit serious fouls will be deducted 2 points. For example, an athlete touches the bottom of the pool to help himself or a teammate. If the contact is unintentional, it is not a foul. One point will be deducted for minor fouls, such as timeouts.

Other rules

If an athlete voluntarily gives up the competition, the team he is in will be disqualified. If a player intentionally disrupts an opponent during a strong hand performance, his/her team will be penalized 2 points. In regular performances, all team members must perform prescribed actions at the same time, except for cross actions, surface actions and opening actions. Background music cannot exceed 90 decibels above the water, although occasional sounds of 100 decibels are allowed. If two groups have the same score, look at the second and third digits after the decimal point and calculate as decimal points. During regular performances, if any controversial areas are found in the video, the referee will make the final decision.

Swimming Pool

In the Olympic Games, the swimming pool must be at least 20 meters long and 30 meters wide, and the water depth must be 3 meters within the 12 meters long and 12 meters wide area. The temperature of the water should be 26 degrees Celsius, allowing a temperature difference of 1 degree. The water must be very clean and allow people to see the bottom. This is to allow people to see whether their actions are correct. The venue for optional actions needs to be wider to allow for the development of difficult techniques. The technical movements in synchronized swimming competitions can not only be done on the water, but also in the water. At present, the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, etc. have the strongest level of synchronized swimming.

Synchronized swimming can not only enhance physical fitness and cultivate the spirit of collectivism, but also is pleasing to the eye with its beautiful artistic shapes and difficult technical and skill movements.

Training related

Synchronized swimming is a highly ornamental event with important requirements in all aspects, including the coherence, rhythm and grace of the movements. The height and stability of the water level, for example, adding rapid rotation while doing a high handstand, etc.

As for building a body, swimming is of course the best way. It can not only build a body, but also exercise.

The synchronized swimming seedlings we need now are required to love synchronized swimming and start to engage in synchronized swimming at the age of seven or eight. It is best to have a foundation in swimming or dancing, have a slender figure, and beautiful legs. The selected team members are all between five and ten years old. Synchronized swimming athletes are relatively strong, because underwater sports consume a lot of energy. They can hold their breath, breaststroke, and butterfly stroke, and their vital capacity is above 4,000, and they have good physical fitness. , no diseases such as heart disease. They are a perfect combination of competitive sports and art, so they are highly enjoyable to watch.

Nowadays, there is a kind of water aerobics that is based on the movements of synchronized swimming. It is mainly for the public and is a good means of fitness. As for holding your breath? It’s best to practice under the supervision of a professional coach, and if you want to improve your lung capacity, you don’t have to hold your breath to exercise. You can increase the time and speed of swimming to improve your breath-holding ability! Breath-holding should be done gradually, otherwise it will cause damage to the body.

Synchronized swimming requires the use of both hands and feet in the water. The movements of the upper body on the water surface need to be controlled by the strength of the legs. The movements of the upper body on the water surface need to be controlled by the strength of the upper limbs. , so this event requires athletes to use every muscle in the body, and it also requires physical coordination. As for water skills, athletes have been learning to swim since they were young, and they only start learning synchronized swimming after they are able to master the four swimming postures. To put it simply, it is as flexible as a fish in the water.

Synchronized swimming allows you to swim underwater without wearing swimming goggles with your eyes open, but you have to get used to it slowly, and it will be very uncomfortable at first. . Because there are drugs, bleaching powder and other things in the water. Generally, athletes only take off their goggles some time before the competition to adapt to the competition. They usually wear water goggles to do various tricks. Everyone should be able to open their eyes in the water, but there is an adaptation process. Synchronized swimming Athletes wear nose clips on their noses during competition, because synchronized swimming often requires handstands, and they are worn to prevent water from entering the nose. You must breathe through your mouth at all times while training and performing.

Now, some new technologies are being used in female synchronized swimming athletes. For example, nasal plugs can prevent athletes from getting water in their noses when their heads are down; gels stabilize hairstyles for athletes; and special cosmetics Make girls look more beautiful. More importantly, the use of underwater speakers allows athletes to hear the music clearly underwater, allowing them to follow the rhythm of the music and stay in sync with their partners