The Humboldt Synchronized Swimming Club hosted their spring water show on May 1 at the Humboldt Aquatic Centre.
The club first gave a demonstration of some of the skills that they have learned over the course of the nine-week one practice a week winter session, before young Weyburn resident, Raea Lamont, gave parents and swimmers a demonstration on some of the slightly more advanced skills that they will be learning in the future. As well she performed her own solo routine.
Once Lamont finished her routine the Humboldt club was up. They performed their short routine to the song Yellow Polka Dot Bikini very well in front of a crowd of about 20 of their family members.
Head Coach, Leisl Lefebvre, was very pleased with the girls’ performance during the show as well as their progression.
“Their skills have improved leaps and bounds, you can tell they’re trying very hard when they’re in the water and they’re having fun doing it. They’ve done really well, they’re worked really hard, I couldn’t have been happier with how today went.”
The swimmers have learned a number of beginner level skills over the nine weeks from the back position says Lefebvre who wanted to start with the swimmers on their backs because it was easier for them to get started since their heads would be above water.
The water show was the culmination of the first full season of the club in Humboldt, which started in September and saw eight swimmers in the fall session with two returnees and five new additions to their winter session, making up the seven current members of the club.
Lefebvre says there has been interest from members of the community for a number of years to start up a club and Synchro Sask has recently looked to move into some of the smaller communities creating the perfect storm to start the club.
Synchro Sask Technical Director and Outreach Coordinator, Taya Amundson, says that they felt very good about moving the club into Humboldt because they were looking for communities with indoor pools.
“Humboldt has a great facility and a great indoor pool and we thought it would kind of be a perfect fit for synchronized swimming during the winter time.”
Amundson says she has been very pleased with the response from the community thus far noting that while it is not a large number of swimmers it is the perfect start.
“Synchro is anywhere from four to eight swimmers so a team of seven is a perfect number to start with and it would be great for the program to grow and continue but seven is a great starting number.”
Lefebvre says that synchronized swimming is an excellent sport for kids to get involved with because it takes the lifelong swimming skill to the next level and provides swimmers with the opportunity to perform individually, in a duet or as a team.
“So you have an individual and a team aspect to the sport in and of itself but for the girls it’s just fun, and it’s entertaining and it’s something different to do to get them active and I think that’s the most important thing.”
It is also really good athletically, says Lefebvre since it helps build core strength and is a very good aerobic exercise.
With the water show now complete the club will take a break for the summer before they plan to regroup in September to start the program up for its second year.
