I Synch, Therefore I Swam

By MICHAEL H. SAMUELS The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 13, 2007

TAMPA - The rhythmic count begins: Five, six, seven, eight …

All at once, eight girls submerge, music blaring from speakers above and below the pool deck.

They are under only a few seconds.

Then, with a splash and in perfect unison, they emerge, lifting each other, more than half their bodies out of the water as their legs kick like egg beaters.

They travel through the pool like gymnasts or figure skaters.

Legs kicking. Arms flailing. All with purpose. All by design.

From the deck, coaches shout encouragement and critiques into a microphone heard above and below the surface of the water.

"Brittany, move closer."

"Alceste, your legs need to be straighter."

Then the music stops.

The girls surface and, as if unison again, take a deep breath.

They stay at the center of the 20-foot-deep pool, buoyed by their always-kicking legs. Only their heads, covered by swim caps of pink, white, blue and other colors, are visible. Their goggles reflect the crystal blue water.

Three times a week, the two dozen members of the award-winning Tampa Bay SynchRays synchronized swim team head to Bobby Hicks Pool in south Tampa. The girls, ages 8 to 18, practice there up to eight hours a week.

Heading To Hawaii

Those hours in the water have paid off.

The SynchRays senior team, ages 14 to 18, recently won first place at the Senior Zone Championships in Dallas.

This weekend, the team is in a regional qualifying competition in Largo. The girls also are training for the U.S. Open competition in Hawaii in July.

"It's going to be awesome," said Bethan Gillett, 18, a senior at St. Petersburg High. "At our last meet, I was crying I was so happy. We worked so hard to go for the gold and we did it."

To raise money for Hawaii, the team plans an exhibition in June at the Brandon Sports & Aquatic Center, head coach Beth Moore said.

The performance will double as a recruitment drive. Since the SynchRays formed 25 years ago, the team has become more and more competitive, Moore said.

The program started through the Boys & Girls Club of Tampa "as a show group activity" to give girls something to do, she said, and "morphed into competition."

Laura Davis, an assistant coach with the senior team, swam with the SynchRays for nine years and went to college in San Antonio on a synchronized swimming scholarship.

Like the other coaches, she volunteers her time.

"The sport is evolving so much," Davis said. "The moves they are doing are a lot more involved and complicated than when I was their age."

'I Live In A Pool'

The smiles on the girls' faces as they perform mask the pain in their legs, arms and chest caused by constant movement. Nose clips create a pinched look and keep the water out as they swim upside down, legs extended and kicking like aquatic Rockettes.

In competition, they wear elaborate sequined suits, heavy makeup and slick their hair with gelatin.

But no goggles.

And trust us, they say, the chlorine burns.

Alceste Laurenti knows; she's in the pool every day for four hours.

"I live in a pool," said Laurenti, 18, a St. Petersburg High School senior.

She joined the SynchRays 12 years ago after her mom was late picking her up from speed swimming practice.

Laurenti, who also swims competitively and is a lifeguard at Bobby Hicks and another pool, practices three days a week with the team and another day on her own.

"This is my home," she said.

Maggie Ely, 8, a team member for 18 months, enjoys competition more than practice.

"We get to put makeup on," she said. "We get medals and ribbons and a lot of people watch."

Immersed In Work And Fun

While swimming, the SynchRays are all business. But give them a second to rest and they're just girls, goofing off by hanging on to diving boards, dunking each other or gossiping and chatting.

"We have a lot of fun together," said Gillett, who joined six years ago. "It takes a lot of work, but I love it."

Brittany McCauley has been balancing speed and synchronized swimming for 11 years.

McCauley, 18, captain of the Sickles High School club speed swimming team, will attend the University of Alabama-Birmingham next year on a synchronized swimming scholarship.

"We are a very good synchro team," she said.

"We've grown a lot together and we've worked real hard to get to where we want to be now."

Reporter Michael H. Samuels can be reached at (813) 835-2109 or msamuels@tampatrib.com.