Try this for a challenge: Gather eight people together. Choreograph a four-minute routine of complicated maneuvers to be performed in perfect synchronicity. The slightest deviation from the routine by any member of the group results in failure.
Not challenging enough? Now do it in the deep end of a swimming pool, making sure the majority of the routine is performed upside-down — for up to forty seconds at a time — with only legs above the surface of the water.
Such is the mental and physical challenge faced by synchronized swimmers. They may look doll-like in their swimsuits and makeup, but they are highly conditioned and disciplined athletes. And the best such young athletes on the entire East Coast are trained at the New Canaan YMCA.
“You need to be a swimmer, gymnast and ballerina,” explains Sandra Valles Mahoney, head coach of the New Canaan YMCA Aquianas Synchronized Swim Team. “With ballet you need that core strength. It’s even more so with synchronized swimming.”