It felt exciting to be walking into the Olympic Park. It’s completely transformed since I last visited in August 2010 when it was still a building site. We got through the airport style security quite quickly and stopped to take a few photos of the Olympic Stadium before we entered the Aquatics Centre with its iconic wave shaped roof. Inside there was a great atmosphere and it was very warm. We sat high up in one of the stands and we had a good view looking down on the pool.
Synchronised Swimming is one of two women-only disciplines in the Olympic Games (the other is Rhythmic Gymnastics). We watched 10 countries competing in the Teams free routine. Teams of eight athletes perform a four minute routine to music which is designed to show off their strengths and creativity.
The athletes need to be incredibly agile and strong to be able to perform in synch with each other and the music while holding their breath under water for a lot of the time. The fast pace of the routines and the variety of positions, movements and lifts make it really watchable and popular with spectators.
Judges mark a variety of components during a routine, including choreography, difficulty, synchronisation and execution. The routines varied quite a lot in terms of music and theme. The theme for Great Britain’s routine was inspired by Peter Pan and Neverland. I particularly enjoyed Mexico’s routine inspired by karate and martial arts.
The Russian team won gold in the competition. They are the current Olympic and world champions. Spain won silver and Japan won bronze.
They join five teams that had already qualified including Team GB as the host nation and the European representative. You can see the full list of results on the London Prepares website
It was fantastic to see world-class athletes in action inside the Olympic Park. Synchronised Swimming is a great event to watch and I’m looking forward to following the competition during the Games.
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