Summer Synchro!

The competition part of the season may have just ended, but ANA Synchro athletes will not be idle all summer!  Head Coach Leah Pinette wants to share three options for keeping synchro-fit this summer, some combination of which should fit just about everybody’s vacation, camp, and simply hanging-out-in-the-summer plans:

1.  Do some stretching and conditioning on your own, emphasizing and practicing the proper technique that was taught all last year. 
2. Practice pool skills at our weekly clinics, which have been specifically set up to run weekly to accommodate families’ travel.
3. Two Olympians are better than one!  ANA Synchro will be hosting a clinic the week of August 18th with guest coach Mary Killman, our 2012 USA Olympian and current collegiate champion in synchronized swimming. What could be better than spending a week with 2 synchro Olympic athletes, our very own Coach Leah and Mary Killman!

ANA Synchro:  First, we have to ask….Really?  Synchro in the summer?  Don’t the girls deserve the summer off?

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  I totally understand when girls, and their families, just want to take a break for the summer.  And resting your body after what can be a grueling season is definitely a good thing, especially for anyone who is injured.  At the same time, summer is the perfect time, since there aren’t any competitions, to work on getting the right techniques down for both land and water activities.  This, combined with general conditioning, can give the girls an excellent base for the fall season. 

Head Coach Leah Pinette encourages
her athletes to get outside this summer!

ANA Synchro:  Tell us what the girls can be doing at home or when they’re away at camp or on vacation.

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  Just be active!  Synchronized swimming is a non-weight-bearing activity, so adding some weight-bearing activity would be good.  Good weight-bearing activities could include running, playing soccer, weight-lifting – basically anything that requires you to exercise with more than your own body weight.  And get outside!  Personally, I love hiking.  AllTrails  is a great resource that I use to find hiking trails around home and wherever I travel.

ANA Synchro:  What about activities if the girls are indoors, just catching up on their favorite TV shows?

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  They can be working on getting the perfect squat in preparation for next season.  The girls know I love the squat because it helps to balance out all the front-facing moves we do in synchro.  Andrew Cannon, the physical therapist who has been helping us with injury prevention, gave us a helpful video to illustrate the proper way to do a squat. 

ANA Synchro:  What about stretching?  Synchronized swimmers probably need to be stretching all the time, right?

Head Coach Leah Pinette demonstrating the proper flat split position,
with hips square, front leg up, back leg down, and nice posture.

IMPROPER flat split position with hips rolled out.

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  Yes.  We want the girls to achieve flat splits, but in the proper position, which is up and down, not sideways.  Sideways, or “rolled out” as we say, actually works different muscles than you use for a proper flat split, and it creates imbalances.  So we want the girls thinking more about alignment of their legs, keeping their hips square, and maintaining a nice posture when stretching.  Stretching from a proper position will feel differently than from an improper one – and they may not be able to get down as far when they first start doing it properly; but in the long run, it’s better if they just go as far as they can using the proper technique.

ANA Synchro:  Tell us about your weekly pool workouts this summer.

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  To accommodate camps and vacation, we are inviting girls to sign up by the week for pool workouts.  We have pool time Monday through Friday all summer long, and we want to work on swimming technique, sculling technique, basics like the support scull, and figures.  We will be tailoring the content of each week based on who signs up.

ANA Synchro:  Swimming technique?  Why do synchro athletes need good stroke technique?

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  General swimming technique matters a lot!  After all, what we do might be “synchronized,” but it’s still “swimming.”  When someone is a better/stronger swimmer, it shows in any synchronized swimming performance.  Athletes will have better speed, better endurance, smoother transitions, and they’ll be less prone to injury if they have better swimming technique.  We are fortunate to have two coaches, Meaghan and Erica, who did speed swimming in college and who will be around this summer to coach.  They have been invaluable in passing along swimming tips.  Plus, we will be sharing pool time with the Y’s Hurricanes Swim Team, so I hope to tap into their coaches’ expertise and knowledge as well.

ANA Synchro:  What is “sculling” and what does it have to do with synchronized swimming?

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  Sculling refers to the propulsive moves a swimmer makes with her hands and forearms.  In synchronized swimming, we have about 10 different types of sculls for different purposes.  Some enable you to stay stationary while executing a move with your legs; others allow you to spin; still others enable you to travel through the water.  It can look effortless, especially the way some of the more experienced athletes do it, but I assure you it’s very difficult.  And sculling can be a challenge to teach because it can be a little different swimmer to swimmer.  A swimmer really has to find the motion that works and is efficient for their particular body.  You don’t think of a liquid like water being something you can “grab,” but that’s how we talk about it – finding the right “grab” or “pull” in the water with a scull.

ANA Synchro:  Finally, about the clinic in August…If girls have been working on conditioning and stretching all summer, and if the season is just about to start, why should they also sign up for a clinic?

Olympian Mary Killman (center, yellow) will be joining
Head Coach Leah Pinette (right, blue) in coaching a clinic in August.

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  You get everything in a full-day clinic like the one we will host.  You get synchro skills; you get land activities; you get seminars.  We’re also looking to do Pilates, some dance, and some yoga.  All of these cross-training activities are great for synchro; we just don’t have time for them in normal practice.  So, a full-day clinic is a great way to expose the girls to many different training techniques from different instructors, and they’ll be able to say what they liked and what worked well for their body.  We are thrilled to have Mary Killman help us out with this year’s clinic.  Mary went to the Olympics in 2012 and, earlier this year, helped Lindenwood University win the collegiate championship.  I know Mary, and she will not only be an excellent teacher for the girls, she will undoubtedly inspire them all to do their best.

ANA Synchro:  How do people sign up for the weekly pool workouts and the August clinic?

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  You can call the front desk of the Y (978-685-3541) or go on-line to register for the weekly pool workouts.  Go to http://mvymca.org/; click on “Program Registration” in the upper right; type in “synchro” to the search box; click on “Synchro Clinic”; and choose the week or weeks you want to sign up for.  And you can go to our website, anasynchro.org to download the flyer and the sign-up form for the August clinic.  Interested athletes can email me (lpinette@mvymca.org) with any questions.

Preparing for Fall High School Swimming

Come fall, high school age ANA Synchro athletes often join their school’s speed swimming teams in addition to returning to synchro.  But does competitive racing really mix well with synchro?  “Yes!” says ANA Synchro Head Coach Leah Pinette, who swam on her high school swim team while maintaining synchro as her primary sport.  “It’s a great conditioning tool for the beginning of the season.  When I tried out, I didn’t really know the proper techniques or how to start and turn properly.  Being on the racing team helped me develop good stroke technique, which, in turn, helped my synchro.”   Pinette still holds records at her alma mater in the 200 free relay and 400 free relay.

ANA Synchro athlete
Evan Costanzo swims
 for Central Catholic
High School  in
addition to synchro.

“Speed swimming allows us to focus on our personal best,” says rising sophomore and Central Catholic High School Raider Evan Costanzo, commenting on the individualized nature of racing.  “Like synchro, we set important goals, but, unlike synchro where we really have to work as a group, we learn to achieve them independently in speed swimming.  I also enjoy all the team bonding and school spirit that you acquire throughout the season.”

Read on as ANA Synchro talks to Andover High School Head Coach Marilyn Fitzgerald and North Andover High School Head Coach Erin Cammann about what synchro athletes can be doing over the summer to prepare for high school swim team training camp in August.

ANA Synchro:  Do synchronized swimmers make good competitive racers?

Coach Fitzgerald:  Over the years we've had many girls crossover from synchronized swimming to swimming for Andover High School, and it’s an easy transition. I am gleeful when I get synchro girls to be on the team.  The one thing they have that I like to use as an example to all of the kids on the team is phenomenal breath control, which is so important for going into and out of your turns in a competitive race.   And they have a great ability to streamline, which is something they've learned since they joined synchro, so I don't have to spend much time explaining that concept to them.

Coach Erin: I agree with Marilyn! We love it when we hear there are synchro girls coming to NAHS.  They may not have racing experience, but they are so comfortable in the water that they pick up on racing skills really quickly.  Some kids get in the pool and think they need to splash a lot in order to go anywhere.  Then you look at the synchro girls-- they just glide along and make it look easy. They instinctively know how to be smooth and efficient when they move through the water.

ANA Synchro athletes (l-r) Grace Alwan, Sophia Ju,
and Nicole Carzo will trade their glitter & sequins
for the blue & gold of Andover High as they take on
the challenge of high school speed swimming this fall
with Head Coach Marilyn Fitzgerald (l) and
Head Diving Coach Becky Pierce (r)
who came to watch the team’s annual show in April.

ANA Synchro:  Is there anything ANA Synchro athletes can be doing over the summer to prepare for training camp?

Coach Fitzgerald:  If someone is trying out for the first year, my recommendation would be to get some running in over the summer.  In the early parts of our season we do some running for aerobic training, which also helps strengthen their legs.  I would also recommend a fitness regimen, which probably includes the very same things they do for synchro – stretching, sit-ups, and anything for core because core is huge in swimming.  And they shouldn’t forget about nutrition.  A lot of people take a vacation from eating the right food over the summer, and I would ask the girls to focus more on eating well.

Coach Erin: Yeah, the running really gets everyone!  I think a bunch of the girls on my team would say that preseason running is the hardest thing we do all year!  But we do it to build up the girls’ strength, which will help them swim faster and—more importantly—avoid getting hurt.  The whole point of preseason is to establish a good foundation for the rest of the season.  We are careful—both in the pool and out of it—to build the girls up gradually.  If a girl comes to the first day of preseason after a summer of loafing around, she’ll obviously have a harder first couple practices than a girl who has gotten regular exercise.  So, the more active you are through the summer, the easier your adjustment to the start of the season will be.

ANA Synchro:  What about swimming?  Should they do laps?

Coach Fitzgerald:  Obviously the swimming part is important.  If girls have a backyard pool or have access to a pool to practice in, they can double the amount of laps they normally do.  And they can work on kicking skills.  We have done more with fins over the last couple years with great results, so I would suggest wearing fins during laps and do some power kicking.  But really, most of all, I recommend coming in with a great attitude and be willing to learn something brand-new because they’re going to hear things that they haven't heard before and they’re going to be asked to do things they haven't had to do before like swim longer yardages.  But synchro girls already have the discipline to learn and the mindset to do what it takes to get the job done, especially when they’re trying to do something for the team. 

ANA Synchro athlete Maxie Zimmerman enjoys swimming
for North Andover High School Head Coach Erin Cammann.

Coach Erin:  The synchro girls are usually ahead of the game because they start the preseason being used to spending long hours in the water.  If girls wanted to swim some extra laps during the summer just to reassure themselves that they’ll be okay, that wouldn’t hurt them.  But honestly they’ll be fine. Their base level of conditioning and water comfort will be a huge asset once the season starts.

ANA Synchro:  They probably learn a lot on your teams!

Coach Fitzgerald:  Synchro girls have been very coachable, and that's a plus. I encourage everyone to have an open mind and be able to be coached.  I always ask them to imagine a big funnel right above their head.  I even get them to put their hands up over their head like a funnel to think about how much can come in that I can teach them.  And then I ask them to think about how much more can come in when they put their hands out wider, essentially making their funnels bigger.  I learned a long time ago that nobody purposefully does something the wrong way.  In their mind’s eye, they think they’re doing it right.  So usually, as soon as I let people know they’re doing something wrong but not intentionally, then they want to intentionally make it right.

Coach Erin: I think the most valuable things they’ll learn will be about what it means to be on a high school team.  The girls at NAHS have a ton of fun outside of the water.  They organize spirit days—my favorite last year was when they all came to school dressed up like cowgirls—and the upperclass girls take turns hosting pasta dinners on the nights before swim meets.  They do a great job creating a network for each other.  The older girls give advice about which classes to take and which teachers to seek out, they support each other as they work toward all their goals—both individual ones and team ones—and they just basically become incredibly close to each other.  I love high school swimming, and I am so happy each year to see the freshmen come in and realize how much fun it can be.

Start dates for the local high school swim team training camps: 

Andover High School -  August 21 @ 7am at the Greater Lawrence Technical School

North Andover High School - August 21 @ 3pm at the Greater Lawrence Technical School

Central Catholic High School - August 21

Healthy Living & Injury Prevention – ANA Synchro Lays a Strong Foundation for Both

The Y stands for Youth Development, Healthy Living, and Social Responsibility.  Earlier blog posts have addressed how ANA Synchro embraces the Youth Development and Social Responsibility pillars of that famous Y philosophy, and in this final post of the three-part series, we turn our attention to the Healthy Living component.  We’re not going to try to cover it all, though!  Healthy Living is much too broad of a topic for a single blog post.  Specifically, we want to talk about Injury Prevention. 

“There are always going to be injuries, no matter the sport, age, or participation level,” says ANA Synchro Head Coach Leah Pinette, who had a couple overuse injuries and one knee injury requiring surgery when she was competing.  “I am thrilled to be bringing some injury prevention activities into our ANA Synchro program.  The beauty of it is that what we do proactively now to help avoid injury and maximize participation and performance is what our athletes need to do anyway to be active and healthy for the long haul, well into adulthood.” 

Andrew Cannon (center) with Head Coach Leah Pinette (R)
and Coach ZsuZsa Belhazy-Kovacs (L)

Andrew Cannon, Director of Sports Medicine at Northeast Rehab and Adjunct Faculty & Team Physical Therapist at Merrimack College agrees.  “To the young athlete, it’s all about success and performance right now.  But the other part of it is that you want them to come out of a youth sports experience with a sense that being physically active is good – that it’ll make them successful because they’re going to be healthier.”

Pinette met Cannon, also a Y Board Member, last November when they were coincidentally stationed together to greet runners who were coming to the Y to pick up their bib numbers and t-shirts for Andover’s annual Feaster Five Road Race.  It didn’t take long for the pair to discover they shared a mutual professional interest in injury prevention. 

“In working through my own injuries, I learned there are a lot of preventive exercises out there,” says Pinette.  “So we’re starting to bring them into our dry land practices.  Squats, for example, are great for synchronized swimmers because they provide a nice balance to all the front-facing moves we tend to do in the water.”

Read on as ANA Synchro talks to Andrew Cannon more about injury prevention and how it relates to our team:

Andrew Cannon talks to athletes and their parents at
ANA Synchro's first Injury Prevention Meeting

ANA Synchro:  What are your initial impressions of synchronized swimming, in general, as a sport?

Andrew Cannon:  There are very few things that the athletes need to do for synchro that aren't also part of a healthy lifestyle.  One of the benefits of synchronized swimming with somebody like Leah in charge is that she's aware that there needs to be a balance for them to have success. There's got to be flexibility; there's got to be strength; and there’s got to be cardiovascular endurance – both aerobic and anaerobic.  So, really, these girls are simply asked to be well-rounded athletes.  Are there parts of the sport that are more risky?   Yes – the excessive flexibility to adopt some of the positions is one example.  But those things just need to be monitored, and the negative trends need to be identified as soon as they start. 

ANA Synchro:  What do you say to the athlete or parent who thinks they just need to throw more hours at the sport to improve?

Andrew Cannon:  I think it should be smart hours.  No matter what the sport or activity is, you will get better if you do more of it.  However, if that's all you do, your tolerance to stress is actually lessened.  Part of being able to do more of your sport or activity is staying injury free, or injury diminished.   You don’t achieve that by just doing your activity and nothing else.  You achieve it by augmenting it with flexibility training, balance training, strength training, maybe running or some other impact activity – all things that ultimately allow you to tolerate the repetition of your sports-specific training.  And in terms of just hours spent on the sport, I think athletes and parents need to broaden their thinking as to what those hours are.

ANA Synchro:  What do you mean, “broaden our thinking”?

Andrew Cannon:  It's always challenging to make the point to high school kids—male or female—that part of their training hours is that they need to train eight hours of their day by sleeping.  Because sleep is critical. I don't expect that that's necessarily going to change all that much, but we just try to get them to understand that sleep is not the thing that gets in the way of doing other activities, it's actually important.  And, if we’re talking about more hours of training, I’d like to encourage people to consider that 90 additional minutes a day of training can be geared into three 30-minute blocks called breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  That's an hour and a half of training that's geared toward putting fuel in the furnace.

ANA Synchro:  I’m sure many of our readers haven’t really thought of it that way before!

Andrew Cannon:  It's that consistency of training, including food and sleep, that will make them successful. And the consistency of training isn't a season.  It isn't a year.  It’s multiple years.  One of the things that makes it so hard in dealing with the high school and collegiate population is that their systems are so tolerant to error that they perceive something is not really an error.  For example, they may not get a lot of sleep and still be okay; then they’ll perceive that sleep is not really important.  Or, they might not eat great but still feel like they have energy; then they’ll think fuel is not that important.  Or, they may not stretch or strengthen and not get injured; therefore they would feel stretching and strengthening is not important.  So every once in a while with this age group, they can pop out a strong performance under-rested and under-fueled.  But that's not going to make them successful in the long term. I think what needs to happen, at some point, is to get them to experience how they feel rested and well-fueled versus not rested and not well-fueled.  

Helping the team understand proper technique.

ANA Synchro:  Is there one key thing athletes and their families should know about injury prevention?

Andrew Cannon:  Early detection is key.  Things are easy to deal with early, and harder to deal with later.  The challenge is to separate out accurate reports that are concerning and other reports that are maybe just ordinary aches and pains.  There are a lot of discomforts that you work through in sports, and part of the education process, as time goes on, is to help athletes and their parents understand what those things are that you can work through and what those things are that you can’t. 

ANA Synchro:  Any final thoughts?

Andrew Cannon:  My own daughters are adults now, and one of the things I’m most proud of is that, as former high school and collegiate athletes, even though they don’t have the formal structure of belonging to an institutional athletic team right now, they still are actively seeking out playing the sport that they have been involved with since middle school.  They still have that passion for the sport and they understand that a healthy life is being physically active and physical activity is the cornerstone to overall  health and happiness.   I see too many kids in high school and college that, due to the intensity of participation and pressure to succeed, they have that passion wrung right out of them and they do not see the value of physical activity.  You don’t have to be super competitive or a super athlete to be active regardless of your age.

Head Coach Leah Pinette:  And I would like to add that there is much more to come for ANA Synchro in the area of injury prevention!  I have enjoyed meeting and talking with Andy over the course of this year, and I look forward to more discussions of how we can continue to improve our team.  We have many ideas, from getting all the athletes baseline tested for concussion to getting more nutrition information out to the athletes and their families.  Stay tuned! 

Andrew Cannon can be reached at Northeast Rehab, 978-521-1186.

Leah Pinette can be reached at the Andover/North Andover YMCA, 978-685-3541.

Annual ANA Synchro Show – A Lot of Work, but a Lot of Reward!

Smiles are bigger and energy is higher when performing
for friends & family at the annual ANA Synchro show!

Last month, ANA Synchro hosted its annual show at the Andover/North Andover Y.  We are thrilled to announce that this year’s production, Defying Gravity, surpassed last year’s box office record and introduced synchronized swimming to many new fans in the community!

Putting on three performances like we do is a huge, annual, undertaking.  Is it worth it?  The coaches could have easily just worked with the athletes to prepare for the next competition.  The volunteers surely could have found other things to do with their time!  And the Y could have experienced just another calm weekend pool schedule. 

We asked a number of people involved in the show in different capacities their opinion on why we do a show.  Not be a spoiler, but the consensus was overwhelmingly positive in spite of the work!  Check out the different perspectives of the people we asked:

ANA Synchro athletes develop close bonds
by swimming all together at the annual show. 

Maxie Zimmerman, Athlete, Senior Team:  The show is a very fun event for the girls.  We all put a lot of work into the show, but it definitely pays off when show time comes around and we get to show off our routines and how great a sport synchro is!  I think we all love the show so much because it is the one time of year when we get to swim with not only our team of 8 people, but with all of our ANA sisters!  It brings all of us so much closer as a team!  

Audiences, and especially the athletes,
enjoyed seeing five coaches perform
an exhibition swim.  They still have it!

Leah Pinette, Head Coach (and someone who has been in her share of shows over the years!):  The show is a very fun event for the girls.  They’re performing just because they love the sport and want to share it with the community.  And it actually really helps us for competition because it closely simulates a competition environment – much more so than we’re able to achieve in an ordinary practice.  Even without the scoring pressure, the athletes will still get nervous because they want to do well in front of their friends and family.  The show gives them an important chance to learn how to control those nerves.  It definitely helps them bond so that when they do go to compete, they are a stronger team.  Not all that coincidentally, our Age Group athletes had an important qualifying meet the very next weekend after the show, and I’m happy to say all of them moved forward to the next round, on their way to Age Group Nationals later this summer.  The show was a nice warm-up for that.

Novice athletes get ready to show their stuff
in their first ANA Synchro show!

Ken and Marsha Cordio, first-year parents of a novice athlete:  We thought that the show was a great way to end the season for the novices, with an event that was very entertaining for all demographics.  Our daughter really enjoyed the opportunity to perform for her family and friends.  The show really educated our extended family about the sport, but in a thoroughly entertaining way.  We were so proud of and impressed with what the novice team could do!  

ANA Synchro teaches teamwork and other important life
skills - all in a fun, youth development-oriented environment!

Maureen M., Long-time Parent:  I saw my first show 9 years ago.  It really shows the heart of the Y people and how their programs shape and transform the lives of the people who are involved in them. Synchronized swimming has taught our daughters more than how to be great athletes. It has taught them so many life lessons about friendship, family, hard work, disappointment, conflict resolutions just to name a few.  It has been a vital part in making them into the strong, confident, healthy, happy, productive individuals that they are. I am so grateful for all the Y has done for our family.  I see the show as a way the swimmers and families can give back to the Y and show what a wonderful program we have and get others involved in the Y's programs.  

ANA Synchro athletes
develop confidence at the Y!

Alex Turek, Executive Director of the Andover/North Andover Y:  There are a few reasons the show is so important to the Y.  First, it is a great way to bring people into the branch that may never have been here before or know what we have to offer.  Second, we see the rich tradition associated with the show and with Marilyn Fitzgerald starting the team so long ago.  What a great way to honor our early beginnings in the sport!  But more than either of those, is the opportunity for the girls to showcase their talents in front of a crowd.  There is nothing like performing in public to boost one’s self-confidence and build character.  That’s what we are all about! 

Girls as young as 6 years old can join ANA Synchro!
Check our website for the next "Learn to Synch" class!

  Kate D’Ambrosio, Aquatics Director (and former synchronized swimmer herself!):  I think it’s so important for us to put on our annual Synchro show.  First, it’s a great way to get more information out there about what exactly synchronized swimming is and how difficult a sport it is!  Second, it’s a great way for the girls to showcase all their hard work for family and friends.  Third, it also shows young girls some of the different opportunities there are after swim lessons. So many kids track towards swim team because they don’t realize that there is another option.  The show highlights how much fun synchro can be, and it can really inspire younger kids.

Synchronized swimming - a unique and beautiful sport.

Zsuzsa Belhazy-Kovacs, Veteran Coach of ANA Synchro:  Our show is a cohesive piece of work that brings everyone – parents, athletes and coaches – together, with significant help from the Y, to run our biggest community event and fundraiser of the year.  It allows everyone to participate and shine, regardless of their skill level, and be a part of a larger, integrated whole.  The athletes display not only excellence in the water, but sportsmanship, kindness, cohesive action, and lots and lots of fun.  All of this shines through every single performance, creates a very positive vibe, and attracts new athletes and their parents to our unique and beautiful sport.

A final dramatic solo swim for
 this graduating senior!

Gloria McNamara, Captain and Graduating Senior:   As a swimmer, the show means a lot to me. It's an opportunity for our friends and family to support the team and experience synchro as a performing art!   I don't think the audience realizes how much work goes on behind the scenes, but it's an amazing experience working with the entire team at once. I especially love seeing all the younger girls swimming next to the older girls. It does get stressful at times, but I think that the team, as a whole, really bonds through the experience.

The ANA Synchro show is an awesome team
and community event!  Join us next year
for the 38th annual show!

Readers….how about you? What benefits do you see for the athletes? Have you ever been part of a major production like the ANA Synchro Show? What benefits do you see for the athletes? For the volunteers? Let’s hear your stories in the comments section!

Social Responsibility – What is it? And why be concerned about it?

Y’s across the world are developing and delivering their programs according to three common pillars of thought and action:  Youth Development, Healthy Living, and Social Responsibility.  In an earlier blogpost, Andover/North Andover Executive Director Alex Turek walked us through why our team should care that the Y is so focused on Youth Development.  Today, Head Coach Leah Pinette talks to us about Social Responsibility in this second of the three-part series.

Head Coach Leah Pinette

ANA Synchro:  We hear a lot about “Social Responsibility” these days.  Can you tell us what it is? 

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  Being socially responsible, to me, is simply about giving back and providing support to the greater community.  We do it as the Y, and we do it as a team.

ANA Synchro:  How so?

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  Our team does outreach projects to the greater community throughout the season.  But we also give back and support each other as a way to introduce this concept of social responsibility to our young athletes.  After all, our team is a little community itself.  Among other things, we assign synchro sisters at the start of every season, and we provide opportunities for the older girls to start coaching the younger ones.  It may not seem like a big deal to send your synchro sister a good luck card before a meet or help someone learn a new figure, but any time we can get the girls thinking beyond their own world and caring about someone else, we feel that contributes to their development as a person. 

ANA Synchro:  And what about the Y?  What does the Y do for “social responsibility?”

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  Perhaps the biggest thing we do at the Y is not turn people away who can’t afford our programs.  Last year, we gave out about $65,000 in subsidies to about 1000 people who otherwise couldn’t pay for membership or programs at the Andover/North Andover Y.  That’s not just synchro, of course.  But, to use synchro as an example:  Synchro can be an expensive sport.  If someone has the love for it, wants to be involved in it, but just can’t afford it, then we have financial aid so they can join the team.  You just never know how you might end up changing their life.  It certainly changed my life! 

Leah Pinette (right) as a
beginning synchronized swimmer

ANA Synchro:  What do you mean - how did this change your life?

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  I started synchronized swimming when I was 4 years old when my grandmother let me join the team she was coaching.  Hers was not a program that competed nationally.  So when I was 10, it was clear that if I was going to compete at that level, I would have to join the New Canaan YMCA team, the Aquianas.  But, my family couldn’t afford it.  So the New Canaan Y and its supporters helped me and my twin sister to join the team. 

ANA Synchro:  And look how far synchro has taken you!  Ohio State champion…competing around the world for Team USA…captain of our US Olympic team….and now ANA Synchro Head Coach!

Pinette (middle row, on right) with Team USA after
winning silver at the 2011 Pan American Games

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  Right!  Who knows what I would be doing if I didn’t have that support early on.  I also had to pay for my own college and support myself through college, and I know I couldn’t have done it without synchro.  So, if the Y didn’t have financial aid for families like mine, I wouldn’t have had synchro.  And if I didn’t have synchro, I may not have graduated from college!

ANA Synchro:  How can our blog audience support the Y’s effort to make its programs available to all?

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):  Our annual campaign is going on right now to ensure that people who want to swim, play basketball, workout, or do any of our programs here can do them.  Our speed swimming team, the Hurricanes, has been doing a Swim-a-Thon for a couple years to help raise money.  And this year, I’m encouraging all our synchronized swimmers to join in, too!  This year’s Swim-a-Thon is Saturday, May 10.  People who want to help can make a pledge on my Swim-a-Thon fundraising page: Click here for Leah's Fundraising Page   Or, you can pledge for their favorite ANA Synchro or Hurricanes athlete – just click “Find Participants” to find your athlete’s page.

You can also give directly to the Annual Campaign via the Merrimack Valley YMCA's website:  Click here to donate directly to the Annual Campaign   

This really means a lot to me, and I thank you!

Synchro Suit Design – From Concept to Performance

Most synchronized swimming teams order just regular swim suits for everyday wear and for portraying a uniform look during meet warm-ups. 

Routine suits, on the other hand, can be much more creative and actually help tell the story of a team, trio, duet, or solo performance.  Depending on the budget of the different groups who will be wearing them, routine suits can be simple, ready-to-wear suits with a cool and music-appropriate pattern.  Or, they could be more intricately-appliqued, custom-made suits.  Either way, all routine suits get a nice dose of sequins, glitter, and sparkly gems to wow and dazzle the crowd!

“Our senior team suits are typically professionally designed,” says Head Coach Leah Pinette, “but it’s always special when we can call upon the creativity and expertise within our own team to design a suit.”

Today, ANA Synchro talks to Candace Ju, a 2012 graduate from ANA Synchro, now applying her artistic talents in architecture school at Carnegie Mellon University.  Candace designed the suits for both of ANA Synchro’s senior soloists this season as well as the 13-15 age group “Russian” duet suit.  Designing the Russian suit was particularly meaningful because the duet features her own little sister, Sophia.

ANA Synchro:    Candace, you must have worn many suits during your 10 years on ANA Synchro.  Do you have a particular favorite?

Candace Ju, far right, poses with her teammates
in her favorite performance suit.

Candace Ju:  My favorite suit was probably Slumdog Millionaire.  It was just so flattering on everyone and looked very clean and professional.

ANA Synchro:    How is it that you got asked to tackle the Russian duet suit design this year?

Candace Ju:    My sister told me they were going to use an old sketch of mine for Russian.  However, when I looked back at it, I thought the design wouldn’t do justice to the girls’ current level of swimming.  So I asked Leah if I could come up with another design, and she said yes.

ANA Synchro:    The design is gorgeous!  How did you come up with it?

Duet partners Grace Alwan
and Sophia Ju show off
Candace's design for "Russian"

Candace Ju:    For Russian, I had an idea of what I thought it should look like because I’ve seen that routine done many times before.  I got my inspiration from the Russian Olympic uniforms, specifically the jackets their athletes wear to awards ceremonies.  And I suggested the Russian suit be self-decorated because it only involved a few colors of glitter, and I think the pattern itself stands stronger without added clutter.

ANA Synchro:    What if you’re designing for a routine you’ve never seen before?

Candace Ju:    Then it’s a bit harder.  I will always listen to the music and use any context of the music for inspiration, such as whether it’s ethnic music or from a movie soundtrack.  I also look at the Age Group and Collegiate national championship suit galleries and collage together aspects of suits that I like and that fit the music.

Graduating senior
Gloria McNamara in
her solo suit.

ANA Synchro:    How long have you been sketching synchro suits?

Candace Ju:    I think I have been sketching since 7^th grade, our “Italian” year.  I don’t think my design was picked that year, but it was still fun to design and think of what cuts and fabrics and patterns would look good.

ANA Synchro:    Do you think synchro suits can be too fancy?  There’s been some talk recently about competing in plain suits to emphasize the athleticism of our sport.

Kate Quinn in her solo
suit, another beautiful
 design by Candace Ju!

Candace Ju:    Synchronized swimming is a performance sport.  Both words accurately describe what we do.  While there are pros and cons to both sides of the argument, I think nicely designed and decorated suits make it more exciting to watch as well as perform.  What would it be like to see a Broadway production where everyone just wore black unitards?  Would the performers feel as if they were performing or just rehearsing?  While it would push the performers to compensate in their swimming for the story that is not told in their suits, I don’t think having well-designed suits detracts from the athletics of synchro.

ANA Synchro:    What would you say to younger girls who are interested in sketching out designs for suits?

Candace Ju:    Go for it!  You have nothing to lose!  I always got really excited when the coaches brought in the big binders of fabric samples for us to pick colors and swatches.  The more personally invested you are in something, the more fun you’ll have with it!

Duet partners Alwan & Ju placing
gems and conferring on decorating
ideas for the  "Russian" suits.

ANA Synchro, to Head Coach Leah Pinette:    Leah, what should girls do if they are interested in sketching out some suit designs for fun?

Leah Pinette (Head Coach):   To go off of what Candace said earlier, go for it! I can give whoever is interested a blank suit design for starters. This gives swimmers an opportunity to become more involved in their routine (or teammates’ routines) and synchronized swimming in a different way than in the pool.

ANA Synchro is hosting its annual show this weekend, April 26th and 27th, at the Andover/North Andover YMCA.  Click here for show info: http://anasynchro.org/meets/2014Show/index.php  
Tickets available in person at the Y or on-line at:  http://anasynchro.org/meets/Show-Tickets/index.html