Synchronized swimming
The development of synchronized swimming in the world
The term “artistic swimming” is currently experiencing its rebirth. In Europe, at the beginning of the century, round-robin swimming was known. In the pools of a number of European countries, on solemn occasions, figure “marching” on the water was performed to the sounds of a brass band. The participants of the performances formed geometric shapes on the surface of the pool during the reconstruction, which always aroused the keen interest of the public. Subsequently, competitions were even held, in which teams of 8-24 people participated. On the American continent, such performances were called synchronous, since the movements must be coordinated. Men and women participated in them. Simultaneously with figure “marching” on the water and round dance swimming, competitions of members of rescue societies who performed individual exercises on the water appeared. For example, in 1920, an exam for the title of lifeguard was held in the Montreal swimming pool, the program of which included many exercises similar to acrobatics, which later became part of the list of synchronized swimming figures. This is how the first figure competitions arose. For a long time, both types (as demonstrations) were called generically artistic swimming. By the way, in many European languages this name has been preserved to the present day, and denotes its sports part, i.e. what is considered synchronized swimming in the USA. There was a period in France when artistic swimming performances were called water ballet. Contrasting this name with the literal translation (synchronized swimming from English — synchronized swimming), one of the founders of this sport in France, IOC Director General Monique Berlu noted that from the moment when expressiveness, inspiration and creativity are required, it cannot only be about synchronization. It is known that at the first major national competitions in France in 1951, both acrobatic figures in the water and rhythmic group swims to music were demonstrated. In the USA, the first official competitions, held in 1945, also included a mandatory series of individual figures and an arbitrary program. Thus, only the name, which has acquired a new meaning, has been preserved from the sports and demonstration synchronized performances of a group of students from one of the colleges, which were first held in Chicago in 1934.
In the USSR, water holidays were characterized by colorfulness and agitation. The athletes’ performances have not yet acquired a competitive character, but, nevertheless, they were successful with the audience. Figure swimming, this type of performance, apparently, began to be called by analogy with figure skating. Perhaps the basis of this name was the execution of figures not only on the surface of the water, but also in the deep part of the pool. Both men and women participated in these unofficial contests. Group performances of 4-16 athletes became increasingly popular, demonstrating planar group figures (ornaments), which alternated with figure swims along different trajectories in compliance with the system, i.e. intervals and distances between swimmers. The number of participants in some performances increased to 24, and the patterns on the water became more complicated. The demonstrative performances of that time are mentioned in the books by N. A. Butovich, A. A. Zhemchuzhnikov and L. V. Gerkan. It is characteristic that the best representatives of sports swimming, outstanding athletes Zoya Fedorova, Olga Khatuntseva, Klavdia Kuznetsova, the Vtorova sisters Antonina, Alexandra, Evgenia and Lyudmila actively participated in figure swimming performances in those years. Figure swimming performances were especially popular in the mid-30s and were an integral part of many sports festivals, which were held, as a rule, at open water sports stations. In the post-war years, amateur figure swimming groups were gradually organized. One of the first was a group of students from the Lviv Medical Institute, who studied under the guidance of swimming coach B. I. Onoprienko. In this section, for the first time, the plot of performances with musical accompaniment was used. By 1957, the Lviv section had ceased its work, and several amateur groups at swimming pools began to function in Moscow. Among the participants of these sections, the largest group in the history of artistic swimming was organized for demonstration performances at the VI World Festival of Youth and Students. The performances were held in the swimming pool of the Central Lenin Stadium in Luzhniki and were a great success. At that time, there were more than 80 participants in the section. In subsequent years, colorful performances of water skaters with the participation of circus performers were repeatedly arranged in the same pool. Sections also appeared at other large pools in Moscow — at the Palace of Water Sports (now the MOCVS), in the Chaika pool. The work in the sections had no sports orientation and was initially focused only on demonstration performances. As a promising sports discipline, artistic swimming was demonstrated at the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952. The demonstrations were timed to coincide with the FINA Congress, which took place during the XV Olympic Games.
In 1956, at a meeting of the commission of the FINA Artistic Swimming Committee, the first international rules were approved. They regulated the main provisions: according to the mandatory program — the performance of classification figures by each participant, according to the free program — a performance with musical accompaniment by one athlete, a pair and a group of 4 to 8 participants. This is how the final division of artistic swimming into two types of competitions took place: the performance of figures (but not patterns) on the water and artistic swimming of singles, couples and groups with musical accompaniment. However, in the GDR, even after such a division, round-robin swimming competitions were preserved; their program even expanded and stood out in an independent form.
The emergence of international rules contributed to the holding of the first sports competitions in several European countries: in 1954 — in the GDR, in 1958 — in the Netherlands, in 1963 — in Austria. Moscow figure skaters held the first official championship in 1961.
The program of the Moscow personal championship included the performance of three mandatory figures and three figures randomly selected by each participant from the international classification, as well as the performance of a composition with musical accompaniment. Couples and groups did not compete in the first competitions. Only the winners in the compulsory and free programs were identified, and the place of each participant was determined by the sum of the points. A total of 42 athletes performed, but only 24 performed in full.
The fight for the first place was conducted between two experienced participants who had a fairly long training experience — Alla Mindlina and Anna Popova. They represented two amateur sections — the Moscow swimming pool and the ICE. The judges’ preference was given to A. Mindlina, who included a larger number of difficult figures in the free program. The result was determined according to the international rules of FINA, published in 1960. For the mandatory program (six figures), Mindlina received 93.48 points under very strict judging, and Popova — 85.95. In total, the winner received 136.78 points for both programs.
The main result of these competitions was that they were the first in the history of Soviet artistic swimming. In those years, many sports fans did not even have a rough idea of artistic swimming. There was still a long and difficult way to go before the official recognition of this sport.
It was difficult for a small handful of artistic swimming enthusiasts — the performances of water skaters could only be of interest to the organizers of water festivals. There were no other — even temporary — patrons of this sport, none of the sports societies were interested in the development of artistic swimming. Amateur groups of female athletes could not bring scoring points for DSO in complex competitions and even more so to fulfill the training plan for athletes.
Few people believed then in the prospect of this beautiful sport. He was also not listed in the list of types of the Unified All-Union Sports Classification (EVSK). To include artistic swimming in the EVSK, mass participation was required, the presence of approved competition rules, a competition calendar, a sports base, coaching staff and an asset of public judges. After the first and subsequent (in 1963) artistic swimming competitions, it became clear to the adherents of this sport that further matches between two or three sections of athletes would not increase the “authority of this sport. It took time and considerable effort before artistic swimming was officially included in the calendar of sports events in Moscow in 1969. Since this year, competitions for the opening prize of the season, the Moscow personal championship and the Moscow Cup have been held regularly. The Moscow Federation of Artistic Swimming was headed by the head of the GCOLIFKa Swimming Department, Associate Professor O. I. Logunova.
In 1968, the City Council of the Union of Sports Societies and Organizations approved the discharge requirements and standards for artistic swimming (from youth to II adult category), as well as the competition rules and classification program. Athletes from all Moscow sections participated in the promotion of the new sport, who often traveled to many cities to participate in water festivals dedicated to the opening of new sports pools. The performances were led by coaches 3. A. Barbier and M. N. Maksimova. The popularity of artistic swimming grew every year, and in 1974 at the request of the Moscow Federation of Artistic Swimming, the editorial board of the magazine “Soviet Woman” established the prize of the spring competitions dedicated to International Women’s Day. These competitions were destined to become international in 9 years. The standards for artistic swimming were published in the sports press, as well as the results of the first World Aquatics Championships (1973).
In 1975, the first match meeting between the teams of Moscow and Leningrad, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, took place in the Dynamo Moscow pool. 1976 was significant for the inclusion of artistic swimming in the EVSK.
The first full World Championship was held in Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia; 86 athletes from 15 countries participated in it. All three sets of medals were distributed among athletes from the USA, Canada and Japan. The Yugoslav spectators, who filled the stands to overflowing on the first day of the competition, expected a water extravaganza, but they were disappointed by the immature performance of the mandatory program, which lasted for 4 hours. The athletes performed the obligatory “incognito” figures — all in dark swimsuits and white hats. Only the starting number was announced, so the wrestling was not visible externally. The free singles program the next day was met with disbelief, and only the doubles and group performances were beautiful and spectacular.
The second World Championship was held in 1975 in Cali (Colombia). There were no changes in the distribution of prizes between the participating countries. Representatives of 16 countries performed not 5 mandatory figures in the mandatory program, as before, but 6 mandatory figures.
The third World Aquatics Championships were held in West Berlin (1978). The number of participating countries did not increase compared to the previous two championships, but their geography expanded: representatives from all five continents arrived. It was a convincing argument. The International Swimming Federation proposed to include artistic swimming in the program of the 1984 Summer Olympics. It was also taken into account that this purely female sport is cultivated in more than 25 countries. There was a reshuffle in the leading group of participating countries – Canadian athletes took the first places in all the numbers of the program.
The European Aquatics Championships began to be held in full only in 1977. 58 athletes from HI H countries arrived at the first official European Championship, held in Jönköping (Sweden). A special swimming pool was provided for the competition in the nearby town of Nesche. Soviet water skaters held a meeting with English athletes in London in 1979. Our couple, Elena Frolova and Elena Sovetnikova— performed the original composition in a peculiar manner, different from the European one. The hosts of the match won with an advantage of 20 points. The lack of international experience in participating in competitions, as well as information about the intricacies of the judging rules, affected. The first All-Union competitions were held in the same year. Two teams from Moscow, one from Leningrad, four girls from Tbilisi and two from Elektrostal performed in the city of Elektrostal near Moscow. Both Moscow teams confidently won the competition.
Over the years, the Moscow Federation of Artistic Swimming has been formed and methodically strengthened, its assets have achieved the creation of the All-Union Commission for Artistic Swimming at the USSR Swimming Federation (in 1977). The first chairman of this commission was People’s Artist of the USSR, Lenin Prize laureate Maya Plisetskaya. In September 1981, two Moscow athletes, Irina Potemkina and Tatiana Khaytser, made their debuts at the second European Aquatics Championships in the Yugoslav city of Split. By this time, the first educational film about the World Cup was created, materials on refereeing and many other methodological innovations were translated. Sixth place in the pairs competition is a good start for our girls.
The fourth World Championship was held in 1982 in Guayaquil (Ecuador). 135 athletes from 21 countries took part in synchronized swimming competitions; for the first time, the teams of Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic participated. It has become a tradition that the USA, Canada and Japan firmly hold the prizes in all the numbers of the program. It is also characteristic that the following team places (from 4th to 9th) are occupied by European countries: England, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, France, Austria.
The debut of artistic swimming at the Los Angeles Olympics was held without any sensations. 50 participants from 21 countries came to the start of the mandatory program. Outside of the Olympic competition program, preliminary and then final free skate singles competitions were held. Although these starts were not included in the program of the XXIII Olympic Games, they influenced the IOC’s decision to include this number in the program of the next XXIV Olympic Games.
The first place was taken by the 1982 American world champion Tracy Ruiz, the second by Caroline Waldo from Canada, the third was a Japanese woman. Miwako Moto-vosi. The distribution of places between the strongest representatives of the participating countries in doubles performances in the official Olympic starts remained unchanged.
In 1984, immediately after the Olympics, the Dutch capital, The Hague, hosted the European Junior Championship, in which the Soviet team successfully performed. 92 young athletes from 12 countries participated in the competition. After the mandatory program, where the athletes of the USSR failed to attract special attention, no one could assume their success in free performances. Already in the preliminary starts, A. Lifarenko and A. Zhamaletdinova took 6th place. In the final, they received a better sum of points for their free program than the strongest pairs from the Netherlands and Great Britain! Only the advantage in the mandatory program allowed the rivals to come out ahead; as a result, the Soviet pair became the bronze medalist of the European Championship. Group compositions in the free program are the most spectacular part of the competition. And here the performance of the Soviet team, carefully prepared under the guidance of the honored coach of the RSFSR 3. A. Barbier, conquered both the judges and the audience. Soviet soloists who did not make it to the finals, but performed as part of the group, performed below their capabilities. For the first time in the history of Soviet artistic swimming, eight athletes — Natalia Arzamazova, Olga Belaya, Elena Dolzhenko, Alfiya Zhamaletdinova, Irina Zhukova, Anastasia Lifarenko, Olga Malinina and Tatyana Titova — took the third prize at important international competitions and accordingly fulfilled the standards of masters of sports.
Development of synchronized swimming in Belarus and the city of Minsk
Synchronized swimming has been developing in the Republic of Belarus since 1982, when a specialized children’s and youth school was first formed in Minsk. Athletes and enthusiastic coaches from all the republics of the USSR were involved in the work, helping to educate talented Belarusian girls, who already in 1983 took 2nd place in the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR in the duet program (Svetlana Shestavina–Elena Biryuk), and in 1991 the Belarusian team won a silver medal in the most spectacular form of the Olympic program in group performances of the USSR Championship draw.
Since 1993, the national team of the Republic of Belarus has continued to successfully compete in official competitions, taking 8th place in the European ranking and 14th place among the countries cultivating synchronized swimming in the world. Also, according to the results of the team competition, Belarusian athletes confidently hold their positions in the “A” division of the European Cup.
Belarusian athletes Natalia Sakharuk and Nadezhdina Kristina took 19th place at the Olympic Games in Sydney (Australia) in 2000, and in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens (Greece) Kristina Markovich and Anastasia Vlasenko held this position in the 20 strongest countries in the world.
Currently, there are 2 synchronized swimming schools in the Republic – the Trade Union Sports School (300 students, 14 coaches) and the Dynamo Ministry of Sports Council (120 students, 4 coaches).
The main training bases are: the Olympic ice engine pool, the Eaglet pool, the Azure pool.
Public Association “Belarusian Synchronized Swimming Federation”
Address: 17A Kozlova str., Minsk, 220043
Tel./fax: +375 (17) 233-65-83 tel. +375 (17) 286-70-05
OO “Minsk City Synchronized Swimming Federation”
Address: Minsk, Surganova str., 2a
Phone: 774-42-64 mobile.
Chairman – Sergey Sergeevich Kozlov
Sports schools, clubs, synchronized swimming sections in Minsk:
Republican Olympic Training Center for Aquatics
Address: Minsk, Surganova str., 2
Phone: +375 (17) 290-95-98, +375 (17) 292-65-28
E-mail: info@mail.belarusaquatics.com
Website: belarusaquatics.com
Director – Natalia Valentinovna Sholomitskaya
The Minsk City School of Trade Unions in Synchronized Swimming
Address: Minsk, 74 Kakhovskaya str.,room 1
Phone: +375 (17) 233-65-83
Director – Senko Lyudmila Vladimirovna
Minsk Sports School No. 1 BSO “Dynamo”
Address: Republic of Belarus, 220101, Minsk, Plekhanova str., 72 (2nd floor)
Phone: +375 (17) 396-36-25
The headmaster of the school: Lozikova Tatyana Mikhailovna