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| Sarah & Karen Josephson at the esynchro booth at the 2014 Age Group Nationals in Seattle. |
ANA Synchro had the pleasure of talking to Olympians Karen
& Sarah Josephson at Age Group Nationals this past July in Seattle, WA. And it was clear that they are as passionate
as ever about the sport of synchronized swimming, which took them all over the
world as our country’s top duet, and which took them to the medal stand in not
one, but two Olympic Games – gold in ’92/Barcelona and silver in ‘88/Seoul!
Today, the Josephson sisters, along with sports performance
expert Duke Zielinski and long-time synchro official and philanthropist Carol
Valles, are putting their talent, expertise, and energy into esynchro, an
outstanding collection of printed and on-line resources for basic synchro
training. They have instructional videos
and handbooks on safe and effective stretching techniques, figures, swimming strokes,
and more.
ANA Synchro: At the start of our season in the fall, our
coaches spend a lot of time on “basics,” like verticals, sculling, and
eggbeatering. What can you tell our
athletes and their parents to help them get through this learning period, when
they probably would prefer getting straight to the new routine or taking turns
on top of lifts?
Sarah: Everyone wants to do the cool stuff now! But you have to swim first, and then you get
to do the cool stuff. It’ll make you
better at the cool stuff! Duke has a
saying: “Advanced techniques are nothing
more than basic techniques performed to perfection.” Once you learn how to do a back scull, for
example, it doesn’t change when you get to an elite level. You still do the same back scull. You still do the same vertical scull. So it’s really important to get those basics
down. The basic skills are one of the
things I think we’ve lost in this country.
Karen: To get successful in anything, you have to put
the time in on the basic skills. Life
will be easier if you work on getting those basic skills really good. It’s like learning to read. You learn early, and then it’s a breeze.
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| ANA Synchro Coach gets in the water to help our youngest swimmers get comfortable with the basics of the sport. |
Sarah: Yes, it matters. For example, to me, there is a very efficient
way of tucking underwater and getting to the surface quickly. But when I watch the girls today, I see many
girls just sprawling out of a position now, which slows them down. And when they torpedo down the pool, they
should be able to shoot out and travel down the pool very quickly.
Karen: If someone doesn’t have good technique, they
look like they’re just plowing through the water, and they’re not moving as far,
or as fast, as they should.
Sarah: Watch the Russian National team. The strength and power of their kicks to move
themselves down the pool are just so much more impressive than most of the rest
of the world at this point. That’s just
basic swimming technique.
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| ANA Synchro coaches spend some practice time on stroke technique because the better swimmer you are, the better synchronized swimmer you'll be. |
Sarah: Definitely.
It’s swimming. It might be synchronized swimming, but it’s still swimming. I think we forget
that sometimes. The better swimmer you
are, the better synchronized swimmer you’ll be.
Karen: Back when we were competing, we spent a lot
of time with Matt Biondi, and he spent a lot of time on technique. He made sure every finger was right when he
entered the water. That’s why he could
win. His training to the technique was
exactly precise. And it’s the same in
Synchro. It really needs to be that
precise.
ANA Synchro: As you know, USA Synchro evaluates athletes
on a specific set of skills, both land-based and water-based, to determine who
will earn a spot on one of our national teams.
For girls who aspire to that, should they focus on just those specific
skills?
Karen: We’re big on not just training one specific
movement. You have to train all
around. Sitting in a split, for example,
doesn’t necessarily make your split better.
You need to stretch out different ways.
It’s not just the one exact movement.
When you do just the one movement, that’s when you tend to get
injured. Because in Synchro, you are never
just doing a straight leg lift. You
might be doing a leg left while swinging it around. So you have to be all-around fit. Synchro is really whole body fitness, not direct
straight line moves.
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| ANA Synchro athletes get evaluated a couple times a year so they can know when they improve and what they still need to work on. |
Sarah: A good thing! Not every club does this, and I think they should. In timed sports, you have a time, and you know if you get it or not. In basketball, you know if you score a bunch of baskets. It’s much more quantitative. In Synchro, it’s not. And there aren’t meets or competitions every weekend like other sports. So evaluations give kids an easy way to set goals. They can see where they are at this point and what they need to do to get to the next level. It gives them something to measure. Still, at the end of the day, Synchro is a subjective, judged sport, but there are objective ways to judge it to improve upon the skills to get where you want to go.
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| ANA Synchro likes to kick off its season with a fun social activity. This year's choice - a group trampoline event! |
Sarah: All the way it should be fun. It’s an activity. It doesn’t mean you can’t work hard, but it
should be fun. You should enjoy the
challenges of working on things, learning new skills, and working with
teammates.
ANA Synchro: What would you like to tell parents whose
kids are involved in this sport?
Karen: Make sure there’s enjoyment and
improvement. Are they getting
better? Are they working toward
goals? Not just randomly working, which
is sort of an easy thing to do in Synchro if you just start working on a
routine without knowing if you got any better.
And it’s quality of practice not quantity of hours. More hours does not necessarily mean getting
better. It can just be exhausting the
kids thoroughly. And, if there are more
hours, are they really working in the pool or just hanging out? You can get a lot done in a few hours.
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| Synchronized swimming - a blend of athleticism, technical skills and artistry. |
Sarah: I think it’s that balance between athleticism
and the technical skills and the artistry.
The choreography is just a way to show off your athletic and technical
skills. It’s the creative part with the
technical part. That balance is cool.
Check out eSynchro at their website: www.esynchro.com
