Arizona Desert Dolphin athlete named to the 2010 National Age Group Team

Arizona Desert Dolphin athlete named to the 2010 U.S. Synchronized Swimming National 11-12

Team

The Arizona Desert Dolphins are proud to announce Olivia Ekberg, age 12 from Gilbert, Arizona was

named to the 2010 US Synchronized Swimming National Team. The team trials were held at the world

famous IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis. Olivia was part of a group of 32 girls qualified to compete

in the trials.

Olivia, along with 9 other athletes will represent the United States at the 2010 Pan American Age

Group Competition in Lima, Peru this fall.

When asked what the hardest part was in training for the National Team trials, Olivia said, “Training

six days a week was really hard, and I had to learn the competition trial routine in only two weeks.”

Since the age of 7, Olivia has been swimming with the Arizona Desert Dolphins and has trained up to

20 hours per week. Her goal is to continue to compete in synchro through high school and has hopes of

earning a scholarship to Ohio State University for synchro.

Olivia’s summer plans will be to attend the National Age Group Competition in Buffalo, New York in

June where she’ll swim her solo, trio and team events, with her Desert Dolphin team mates. Then she is

off to Lake Placid, New York to train for 6 weeks at the Olympic Training Center before leaving for

Peru.

“I’m really excited to be a part of the National Team this year. It’s the first time in the United States that

an 11-12 National Team has competed internationally before. I’m also really excited because I hope to

be named as the soloist to represent the United States too, but I won’t know until after the competition

in June.”

If you want to know more about synchronized swimming or about the Arizona Desert Dolphins visit

their website at www.azdolphins.com or call 480.313.4350. You can also track Olivia’s National team

journey by visiting our blog at www.azdesertdolphins.blogspot.com.

Desert Dolphin Athletes: finalist in 4 events at the 2009 US Age Group Championships in Gainesville, Florida.

The athletes for the Arizona Desert Dolphin Synchronized Swimming team are back at it again! Sixteen athletes just returned from the largest synchronized swimming competition in the world. With over 1000 athletes, 16 doesn’t sound like much, but the Desert Dolphin athletes made a big splash and brought home new titles.

Nine athletes made up the 11-12 Age Group team. The team routine was comprised of music from the Disney-Pixar film Wall-E and walked about with a 5^th place finish.

Three other swimmers made up the duet and trio events, the trio took 4^th place and the duet 5^th.

All eight athletes competed together in the team event, finishing in 10^th place. Competing against 48 other teams, spanning the entire country, and ending up in the top ten is quite an accomplishment. Head Coach, Lorette Haynes is proud of her athletes, “Synchronized swimming is not an easy sport to master. It breeds perfectionists, and perfection is something we strive for in the girls. We set a goal at the beginning of the season to qualify to Nationals and place in the top half. We did it! We actually exceeded our goal, and I couldn’t be prouder.”

Olivia Larsen, 12 from Mesa was the team’s alternate. “Being an alternate is a difficult position on the team, with learning and memorizing who has which counts. But even though it’s difficult in my opinion it is also the most fun.” Larsen joined the Desert Dolphins in December of 2008 as a Recreational team member. She quickly was able to catch on and move up to the Competitive Team. “Alternates are usually the hardest positions on the team, with little or no glory. Olivia’s hard work and sacrifice helped us along our way to a top eight finish,” Haynes said.

Synchronized Swimming has recently been deemed “the ultimate sport.” Combining perhaps the most difficult aspects of other sports, athletes train in numerous other sports to be successful in synchronized swimming. Watch a routine and you’ll see how gymnastics, dance, cheer, water polo, speed swimming, figure skating and so many more play a part in synchronized swimming.

The Desert Dolphin team is now on break for the remaining of the summer, and will start up again September 1st. The team has numerous programs, fit for anyone who wants to give it a try, including a free trial class in August, a perfect opportunity for girls to “get their feet wet” and see if Synchro is for them. Anyone needing information should contact the team. The team is based in the East Mesa, Gilbert and Queen Creek area, however, contact Coach Becky at info@azdolphins.com for information on their team or any other teams in the valley.

79 Year Old Synchronized Swimmer to take the Grand Canyon State Games APS Power Player Award

Synchronized Swimming’s Power Player

Our 2009 Power Player award went to 79 year old, Mary McBain. Mary started synchronized swimming at the age of 64 under the training of Sue Cox, Arizona Desert Gems. Mary has competed in almost every Grand Canyon State Games over the past 15 years. Mary has also competed in several US National Masters competitions and even competed in the World Master Synchronized Swimming Event in Italy in 2004 where she took 2^nd place with her solo. Mary has been an exemplary example to all of us of her courage, her sportsmanship, and her ability to do whatever one sets their mind to at any age.

Mary’s husband of 61 years passed away in February this year and he never missed one of Mary’s swimming performances. Mary asked if she could swim a solo in tribute to her late-husband at this year’s Grand Canyon State Games. Mary’s daughter, son in-law, son, daughter in-law, and grandchildren were all on deck for Mary’s final performance. She swam to her husband’s favorite song “Looking for the Eyes of Love”. Mary emerged from the Pool to a standing ovation and not a dry eye on the pool deck.

Synchronized Swimming is proud to have Mary McBain as our Power Player of the year and would like to thank Mary for her contributions to our sport.

Now’s the perfect time to try synchronized swimming!

If you’re looking for a unique sport, that incorporates elements from many other sports…. then now is the perfect time to give synchronized swimming a try.

Synchronized swimming combines swimming, dance and gymnastics where swimming perform elaborate and often acrobatic moves in the water. Consistently moving, changing posititons and patterns, synchronized swimmers are true athletes. 

Synchronized swimmers not only train in the water, but they do dry land training, diving, gymnastics, tumbling, dance, Pilates and yoga, and more recently they have added circus school to their trainings! 

If you are looking for a sport where you daughter can train in different sports and on different spectrums, give synchronized swimming a try. 

There are several teams here in the valley. For information on a club near you contact the Arizona Desert Dolphins at info@azdolphins.com.

For information on the nationally ranked Desert Dolphins visit their website: www.azdolphins.com or email Coach Becky at becky@azdolphins.com.

Desert Dolphin Synchronized Swimmers Medal in all Events

The swimmers and hosts of the Desert Dolphin Invitational Synchronized Swimming competition walked away from their first competition with new titles to their name. Gold medals were won in all nine figure categories by Desert Dolphin athletes. 

Gold medalists were Ella Bowman of Gilbert, Delaney Wiley of Mesa, Tania Castaneda of Mesa, Julia Ekberg of Gilbert, Nickelle Haynes of Queen Creek, Marisa Cluff of Gilbert, Vanessa Bodrero of Mesa, Kayley Giles of Mesa, and Shannon Chott of Gilbert. 

With a total score of 119.28, Vanessa Boderro, 13, was the high point of the competition. 

Head Coach Lorette Haynes was excited about the team’s results. “This is our first competition of the season, and it starts to give us an idea of how we’ll shape up for the rest of the year. Our girls worked very hard for preparing for this competition. All but three of the gold medalists were brand new members to our team. ”

The future is bright for these young atheltes. Currently one of the largest teams in Arizona, the Desert Dolphins are made up of more than 60 athletes ranging in ages from 5-18.  If you would like to learn more about the team, please visit their website at www.azdolphins.com.

Desert Dolphins win new titles

Eight athletes boarded a plane on June 26th for a competition they’ve been training for, for nearly 11 months. Wednesday July 2nd they boarded a plane home with excitement, fulfillment, and two new titles to add to their list of successes. Kaylee Bowman, 11 from Mesa is now Arizona’s top 11-12 soloist, in addition to swimming a 5th place routine swim at the National meet. “It was a lot of work, but it paid off, when I ended up in fifth. It was fun traveling to New York to swim. I’m glad I had a solo.”

All eight athletes competed together in the team event, finishing in 10th place. Competing against 48 other teams, spanning the entire country, and ending up in the top ten is quite an accomplishment. Head Coach, Becky Thompson is proud of her athletes, “Synchronized swimming is not an easy sport to master. It breeds perfectionists, and perfection is something we strive for in the girls. We set a goal at the beginning of the season to qualify to Nationals and place in the top half. We did it! We actually exceeded our goal, and I couldn’t be more proud.”

In addition to competing in New York, the athletes were able to view an exhibition by the 2008 United States Olympic Team. Afterward the Olympians took time to sign autographs and pose for pictures.

Synchronized Swimming has recently been deemed “the ultimate sport.” Combining perhaps the most difficult aspects of other sports, athletes train in numerous other sports to be successful in synchronized swimming. Watch a routine and you’ll see how gymnastics, dance, cheer, water polo, speed swimming, figure skating and so many more play a part in synchronized swimming.

The Desert Dolphin team is now on break for the remaining of the summer, and will start up again in August. The team has numerous programs, fit for anyone who wants to give it a try, including a “Try Synchro for free” class in September. Anyone needing information should contact the team. The team is based in the East Mesa, Gilbert and Queen Creek area, however, contact Coach Becky at info@azdolphins.com for information on their club or any other clubs in the valley.

Athletes: Kaylee Bowman, Olivia Ekberg, Haley Kurtz, Renee Layja Cyntia Li, Alexandra Metcalf, Chaylee Nelson and Kelsi Rasmussen.

Content provided by Becky Thompson of the Arizona Desert Dolphins

Everything you need to know about, synchronized swimming

We had a chance to catch up with Becky Thompson head coach of the Arizona Desert Dolphins. She discussed everything from the rules of synchronized swimming to why you should consider it a sport.

Fanster: What exactly is the format of a synchronized swimming competition?

Becky Thompson: Synchronized Swimming is governed by FINA rules. In the United States competitive levels are divided into the following age groups: Novice, Intermediate, Age Group, Juniors, Seniors, Collegiate, and Masters. Athletes may compete at different competitions determined by age, combined score or competitive level. Synchronized swimming offers four routine events, solo, duet, trio, and team, swimmers however, may only compete in 3 of the 4 at each competition. A team may consists of four to eight swimmers. Swimmers also compete in individual figures, which in some levels of competition are sometimes factored in with routine scores.

Routine Competition is scored by a panel of judges, usually 5-10. Two sets of scores are given. The Technical Merit score is the score for execution, synchronization, difficulty in the routine, and transitions. Artistic Impression is the score given for creativity, choreography, manner of presentation, and music interpretation. Scores can range in .10 increments from 0.0 to 10. Ten being a perfect score.

Competitions can range from a few hours on a Saturday morning to 10 days long! The type of competitions the club teams in Arizona compete at however, are usually weekend meets. For the more elite athlete, competitions include travel, and can last up to 6 days.

Fanster: How is your season formatted?

Becky Thompson: The synchronized swimming season usually begins in August or September and includes 3 months of training before the competition season starts and the season usually ends in June or July. Once the competitions begin, athletes usually have one per month, and it can range from local to national competitions. Commitment and skill levels determine how much traveling an athlete will do each season. Our team practices 2-4 days per week. During our practices we incorporate flexibility training, swimming technique, dance, Pilates and strength conditioning. The beginning of the season we focus on the strength and endurance of the athlete. The middle of the season is skill and technique perfection. The end of the season is competition.

Fanster:What skills sets do your swimmers have to have in order to be successful?

Becky Thompson: Athletes can start synchronized swimming as long as they know how to swim and are comfortable in the deep end of the pool. Once practices begins all aspects of the sport are taught by skilled coaches. Success in the sport requires coordination, flexibility, strength/endurance and determination. With age and experience these characteristics increase and swimmers often find that their athletic abilities help them succeed in many other sports they choose to pursue.

Fanster: Who can get involved in synchronized swimming and how?

Becky Thompson: Synchronized swimming is the perfect sport for anyone who enjoys swimming, dancing, tumbling and performing. Combine all those and you get synchronized swimming! The Arizona Desert Dolphins are based in East Mesa, with athletes from Gilbert, Chandler, Queen Creek and Apache Junction as well. In Arizona there are numerous teams here in the valley and in Tucson. If you live outside the East Mesa area, contact me and I’ll put you in touch with a synchronized swimming team in your area. If you would like information on the Arizona Desert Dolphins, email me at info@azdolphins.com or visit our website, www.azdolphins.com. Our competition season is coming to an end and we are working on gearing up for next year. We have exciting plans in the works, including adding a Monday/Wednesday program to our Recreational Team and adding the Desert Diva’s Gym, Dance and Synch Class. Our competitive team will continue to be a competitive strength in the state. Now is the perfect time to get some information to see if synchronized swimming is a good fit for your child.

Fanster: How have you faired in competition this year?

Becky Thompson: We have had a wonderful season. Each year our goal is to qualify for the national competition, which we have successfully done again. We are especially proud of our athletes as our team is only 2 years old, and we’ve been successful qualifying for Nationals both years, as well as bringing home numerous medals and titles from all of our competitions. Some of our greatest accomplishments this season have been:
2008 Regional 13-15 Bronze Medalists and qualifiers for Nationals Championships
2008 Regional 9-10 Duet Champions
2008 State 9-10 Duet Champions
2008 State Age Group 11-12 Duet Silver Medalists
2008 State Figure Championships 9-10 Silver Medalist
2008 State Solo Championship 9-10 Silver Medalist
2008 Regional Solo Championships 9-10 1st place routine finish
2008 Regional Figure Championships 9-10 Silver Medalists
2008 Regional Solo Championships 11-12 Bronze Medalist and National Championship Qualifier
At the 2008 State Championships we brought home 11 medal finishes.

Fanster: Is there any major miss conceptions people have about synchronized swimming?

Becky Thompson: The biggest misconception about synchronized swimming is that it is easy. Often times it is not even considered a sport. But it is, and it is also an Olympic sport. Often times this misconception arises because synchronized swimmers are taught to be graceful, fluid and appear effortless. If you watch synchronized swimming and it looks easy, you are watching talented athletes who have trained hours upon hours, and months after months.

One additional misconception is that athletes touch and use the bottom of the pool. At competitions athletes are penalized and sometimes disqualified from further competition if they deliberately use the bottom of the pool. In synchronized swimming we use a perfected form of treading water called eggbeater, which allows the athletes to propel their body out of the water.

My answer to anyone who thinks synchronized swimming is easy or that athletes stand on the bottom… is to come give it a try! Anyone, news reporters, Dads, brothers, football coaches… come down to the pool and we’ll show you how it’s done. Don your Speedo and goggles, and jump in!