Swimming March 29, Synchronized 2013 Blueprint Issue 7
Synchronized Swimming: Not For the Short of Breath Walnut Creek Aquanuts set the record straight on one of the most intense sports around Megan Yee Staff Writer
There’s a huge [team component] to it.” Carrillo began synchro at the age of five and is now on the Junior A team, Imagine swimming, treading water, coached by Yuka Nakanishi. Carillo was and conditioning for four hours a day, or a part of the 13-15 team that placed fifth upwards of 29 hours per week, all while in team and sixth in combo at the Medijuggling the responsibilities that come terranean Cup in Italy. Among numerwith being a full-time high school stuous other achievements, in 2008, at her dent. first age-group nationals, she played To the average person, this workout first in team. The following year, her seems like a nearly impossible feat. team placed third and she, along with However, for senior Marisa Tashima and her partner, ranked first in duet. At the sophomores Jasmine Carrillo and JoanMexico Trophy Cup in 2013, her team na Langner, this strict training schedule placed ninth in a pool that included has become standard. Olympic teams from other countries. All three Acalanes students are syn“The thing I always remember most chronized swimmers with the Walnut about Jazzy [Carillo] is that she’s Creek Aquanuts, an internationally a worker bee,” said McGregor, who renowned synchronized swimcoached Carrillo ming club that has been helping off and on for a talented swimmers perfect their number of years. technique and artistry since “I remember when 1968. The Aquanuts have capI started coaching tured hundreds of national and her, she was twelve world titles and have produced or thirteen, she seventeen U.S. Olympians. could have been “[The Walnut Creek Aquamy assistant coach. nuts] is a synchronized swimShe was intense, ming club that trains girls she wasn’t afraid from young age group all the to say, ‘that needs way up to the elite level,” said to be better.’ It’s 2008 U.S. Olympian and curreally obvious to rent Aquanuts Head Coach Kim me why she was Probst. “[Former Head Coach] good so young. She Gail Emery coached six Olymwas operating at pic teams, so she has built quite a higher standard a dynasty here for the club that from a very young we have today.” age.” Sophomores Joanna Langer and Jasmine Carillo rehearse a group routine at recreational Relatively unknown and center, the Heather Farms recreational center. Their team participates in national and Carrillo’s work often misunderstood by many, worldwide yearly meets at the elite level. ethic and natural synchronized swimming, or talents will, with“synchro”, is a unique sport in for swimmers to find a balance between out a doubt, carry her far in her future which athletes incorporate elements of synchro and school. Homework needs to synchro career. She is aiming high, swimming, gymnastics, and dance into be completed, but arriving late to pracstriving to represent team USA in synchallenging, complex routines choreotice is a no-no. As a result, swimmers chronized swimming at the Olympics. graphed to music. Swimmers tread water have acquired useful skills in time“When I first started, I really wanted and scull for hours at a time in practice, management and responsibility that help to be an Olympian because a lot of my all for the satisfaction of perfecting a them in all aspects of life. coaches are Olympians. Every [kid’s] short, four-minute routine come compe“I’ve gotten pretty good at [balancing dream is to go to the Olympics, and I tition time. Swimmers at an elite highsynchro and school] because I’ve been really want to go for synchro,” said Carschool level spend an average of four doing it my whole life, but I’ve had to rillo. “Basically, for everybody who does hours per day at the pool on weekdays make a lot of sacrifices,” said Tashima. synchro [at an elite level], the coaches and upwards of six hours on Saturdays, “It’s just a lot of late nights.” our leading them on a path to the Olymwith the occasional Sunday practice. While long practices followed by long pics.” “I practice 26 hours a week,” said Carhours of homework may be grueling, the Langner, also a member of the Junior rillo. “I leave to go to school at 7:30 am team aspect of the sport helps make synA team, began synchro at the age of and I come home at 2:10. Then, right chro enjoyable. Tashima, Carrillo, and seven. She was part of the team that won away, I have to get ready for practice and Langner all discussed how being part of first in combo at the U.S. opens as well I go for four hours. I come back at 8pm, a tight-knit team is their favorite part of as first in team at the 2012 Pan Amerido a little bit of homework, and start it the sport. can Games in Colombia, where Langner all over again.” “I like talking with my friends and herself was ranked fifth in figures out A far cry from the frilly, joke-of-abeing [at practice] with them,” said of all of the North and South American sport that the media often characterizes Carrillo. “You spend so much time with countries. it to be, synchro is arguthem that they’re basically your family. “Joanna is a goof ball,” said Nakanishi. ably one of the most physiBlueprint Photo/Alex Tankka
cally demanding sports around. Athletes perform difficult skills that require enormous full-body strength, breath and body control, and f lexibility. To top it off, their ultimate goal, similar to ballet dancers’, is to make the routines appear effortless. “People think we wear f lower caps and we’re little frilly girls dancing around in water standing on the bottom [of the pool],” said Carrillo. “ [They think] that it’s the easiest sport possible, or they don’t even consider it a sport. But, when you look into it, it takes a lot of effort to do.” Because daily practices and the occasional competition require a major time commitment, it is often a struggle
S35
Continued on S41
March 29, 2013 Blueprint
Issue 7
Synchronized Swimming Continued from S40
“But, she’s also very synchro smart. She always knows what’s going on, always asks the right questions. She’s always at practice; she rarely misses.” In addition, even with all the stresses of school and synchro, coaches note that Langner always manages to come to practice in an upbeat mood. Her positive energy is much appreciated by all swimmers during tough practices. “Joanna is what I would call an A+ kid to coach-always in a good mood, always positive. It’s hard to get everybody on the same page at every moment in practice, but she comes every day in the same mood,” said Probst. “It’s refreshing” Langner, like Carrillo, is also training with a goal of representing the U.S. in the Olympics someday. “I want to go to Stanford University for synchronized swimming or the Olympics 2020,” said Langner. Langner’s dream of swimming for Stanford is a reality for Tashima, a member of the Senior A team, coached by Probst and Olga Kouznetsova. She has been swimming for eleven years and will head to Stanford in the fall of 2013, as she has received a partial scholarship to swim on the Stanford synchro team. In addition to synchronized swimming, Tashima is also a member of the Acalanes varsity swim team. Tashima was part of the teams that won first place in duet, team, and combo at the 2011 Junior Nationals. The following year, her team again placed first at Junior Nationals. At the 2012 World Junior Championships in Greece, her team placed ninth. “You can be pretty honest with [Marisa about] what her shortcomings and weaknesses are, and she has the ability to go after them, but in a very healthy way. She doesn’t beat herself up,” said McGregor. “Marisa is a f lyer off the lifts. Somebody like that has to have a whole lot of guts. They get beat up. They land on their backs ten times or fall a funny way. Those are people who are physically tough, mentally tough. They have a lot of pressure on them.” However, unlike her younger teammates, Tashima has little desire to go to the Olympics for swimming. “I just want to stay as long as I enjoy the sport. It’s been good for me to dedicate part of my life to [something] and it’s helped me be focused.” Along with being stand-out athletes, all three girls are also great teammates to each other and to the rest of the Aquanuts.
“They are all amazing people and even better teammates,” said fellow Aquanut Karina Boyle, a student at Northgate high school. “Jazzy is always a hard worker; she never complains when practice is hard. Joanna is an amazing competitor. She always pushes you to be your best. Marisa is such a hard worker and knows exactly what the coaches want her to do, and then she goes out and does exactly that.” In addition to their “synchro family”, the girls’ parents and siblings are major parts of their synchro careers. In addition to providing moral support, family members drive the girls to practices, attend competitions, and fundraise for the club. “[My family] is very, very supportive. They go to almost every single meet, even though it’s really expensive because sometimes we f ly across the country,” said Langner. “Every day, they drive me to practice, and they ask me how it is. They’re always there to help me if I need it.” Along with supporting their children emotionally, parents also help fundraise for the club and organize travel plans associated with competitions. While the club does have a few sponsors, a fair amount of the sport’s financial burden falls on parents. “They could use more [sponsors]. We, as parents, have a fee that we pay every month and we do two shows per year, which bring in a lot of money. The bingo hall is our biggest income maker,” said Kathy Langner, mother of Joanna Langner. “ [But the parents] pay for the food, hotel rooms,[swim] suits, and whatever the girls need.” Despite the major time commitment and the physically and mentally demanding nature of the sport, Carrillo, Langner, and Tashima find it to be extremely rewarding. Synchro has given them each something to be passionate about, along with skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives. “I [thought about quitting] when I was younger, just because I wanted more time to hang out with my friends. But, I see now that [synchro] is something that is so rewarding that I’d never quit. It’s such a big part of my life.” Whether it’s a trip to the 2020 Olympics or an education at Stanford, the doors are wide open for these three talented Aquanuts. No matter what paths they choose in synchro and in life, the girls have bright futures ahead of them. “I believe that [the girls] have [unlimited] potential,” said Nakanishi. “If they want it, they can always make it happen.
Continued on S43
S36