Synchronized swimming is a sport that involves completing elaborate tricks and routines in the water all while coordinated with music. This sport combines coordination with a team, technical ability to stay and move underwater, and artistic grace. The players are essentially swimmers with some competing in solos, duets, or in a team of anywhere from 4-8 people. The synchronized swimming community can range quite a bit, but can be ascribed to the general public. It is an accessible and fairly digestible sport, as it is essentially a performance. It does seem to have a more predominately female audience, however, it is a sport that can easily be appreciated by many kinds of people. The rules of synchronized swimming involve not touching the bottom on the pool, using specific technical elements, and staying in dress-codes. These rules play to a more traditionally female audience, as the rules require a certain level of grace and attention to detail in each move. This sport has an interesting history, as in the 19th century it was a male-only categorized sport. However, in the 20th\/21st century it changed to being female dominated and men were even prohibited from many competitions including the Olympics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My personal views about the interplay between the sport and gender are that it is interpreted as a highly female dominated, but also challenges current gender dynamics. In the video, you can see that the competitors dress in flashy swim costumes and have their makeup done. Part of the sport is the presentation appeal and what you can or can not wear. It plays into the idea that this sport is highly feminine and female dominated. However, if you look closer into the types of tricks done in each routine, each trick involves incredible amounts of strength, endurance, and flexibility all masked by elegance. I believe synchronized swimming is more of a silent display of more \u201cmasculine\u201d elements of a sport, and is just as demanding as a sport like football would be. In this sport, \u201cwildness\u201d is seen in the crazy amount of strength required, but also in the mesmerizing and exciting choreography.\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=J7jiAKtOnXI<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n -elina chen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Synchronized swimming is a sport that involves completing elaborate tricks and routines in the water all while coordinated with music. This sport combines coordination with a team, technical ability to stay and move underwater, and artistic grace. The players are … Continue reading