Synchronized swimming is one of the most beautiful and spectacular sports. It consists in the fact that athletes perform synchronous movements in the water to music, depicting various figures. This sport may seem light, elegant, but in fact it makes very high demands on athletes. They must be resilient, flexible, and have excellent breathing control, not to mention a sense of rhythm and artistry.
Despite the fact that synchronized swimming has been known since the 20s of the last century, and in 1948 the first demonstration performances of athletes took place at the London Olympics, this sport could not get Olympic status for a long time. Rather, it was treated as a very beautiful, spectacular show. It wasn't until 1984 that synchronized swimming made its debut as a full-fledged sport at the Los Angeles Olympics. Then there were competitions in singles and doubles.
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, instead of singles and doubles, competitions were held in group exercises, that is, only one set of medals was played. And, starting with the Olympic Games in Sydney (2000), two sets of awards were played: in duet competitions and in team competitions.
Athletes perform two programs: compulsory and free. In the first case, they must depict certain figures, in the second - there are no restrictions, each team independently chooses a musical accompaniment and a choreographic composition. The assessment is carried out by a panel of judges of 10 people, divided into two groups. The first five judges give marks for the technique of executing the program, the rest - for the artistry. The maximum possible score is 10 points.
Synchronized swimming is one of those sports in which Russian athletes are traditionally strong. The national team of our country was the undisputed favorite at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, 2004 in Athens and 2008 in Beijing, far ahead of its closest competitors. And a few days ago, at the London Olympics, Russian athletes Natalya Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina won gold medals again, leaving their rivals literally no chance. They were ahead of the Spanish women who took 2nd place by as much as four points! All these successes were achieved under the leadership of T. N. Pokrovsky, the permanent coach of the Russian national team.
