Over time, swimming team makes waves

Head coach Ginny Chadwick has been with the team since its inception. A former synchronized swimmer, Chadwick, a Columbia native, saw a newspaper ad looking for a synchronized swimming coach. A volunteer staff of five coaches, all of whom have synchronized swimming experience, help Chadwick.

In synchronized swimming, swimmers are grouped by age and perform in solos, duets, trios or team routines with up to eight members. Swimmers age 12 and younger must complete certain required moves in their routines, while older swimmers perform freestyle routines. At competitions, scores are based half on swimmers’ routines and half on swimmers’ ‘‘figures,” individual moves performed in front of the judges.

A swimmer spends half of a three- or four-minute routine under water and is not allowed to touch the bottom of the pool, Chadwick said. Not only must swimmers keep good form while keeping the beat, but they also must be aware of their teammates and know when they can take a breath.

‘‘You don’t usually think about breathing,” Ginny Chadwick said. ‘‘You have to be very comfortable in the water.”

The ‘‘synchro” season runs September to July, with about one swim meet scheduled each month beginning in January at locations across the country; some Pearls are now training for a March competition in Dallas. The first few months of the season are spent on conditioning, writing routines and selecting music in preparation for competitions. Routines are underwater dances choreographed by coaches, swimmers and occasionally by paid professionals. The more experience swimmers have, the more they are involved with developing their routines. ‘‘Sometimes, I’ll tell my swimmers, ‘I have this idea, make it work,’” Chadwick said.

Many of the Pearls have backgrounds in gymnastics, ballet and dance. Because of the stamina required in synchronized swimming, many members become successful middle- or long-distance swimmers on school or club teams, Chadwick said. After leaving the Pearls, some swimmers compete in college, and two Pearls are currently swimming with the circus, she said.

Tracy Ringel had done gymnastics and ballet when her mother, like Chadwick, saw a newspaper ad about the Pearls. Eleven years later, Ringel, now 18, said she plans to swim in college and beyond once she graduates from Atholton High School in the spring.

‘‘Everything gets harder, but your skills get better,” she said of advancing in synchronized swimming. ‘‘It’s challenging, but it’s fun.”