Spring water show a tune-up for Canadian Open Championships

THUNDER BAY -- This past weekend, Kim Geils and Ally Kortes-Miller and their teammates had a chance to let family and friends see how far they’ve progressed this season.

By month’s end they’ll be competing for a national championship in Calgary.

Both called this past weekend’s Thunder Bay Synchronized Swimming Club’s annual spring water show a tune-up for nationals, a first for both athletes.

Getting to this point hasn’t been easy. Not only do the swimmers have to choreograph their moves, they also have to learn proper breathing techniques and build up the strength and endurance to propel themselves and their teammates out of the water in stunning displays of co-ordination and grace.

“It a lot of hard work, a lot of practice,” said the 16-year-old Geils.

“We all have to keep counting the whole time, but have been working the whole time together on it.”

Fourteen-year-old Kortes-Miller likened it to sprinting in the water.

“It’s so difficult. It’s a lot of practice that makes it all come together.”

It’s the first time either youngster has stepped up to the national stage, and both are looking forward to the experience of competing against the country’s top synchronized swimmers.

“For both of us, this has been so amazing for us to be able to swim at this level and go to such big competitions,” said Kortes-Miller, the youngest member of the national team squad. “It’s just been really fun.

“Competing with these amazing swimmers has just helped me become more mature and learn lots about my sport.”

Geils said joining the national stream gives her a chance to learn from more experienced local swimmers and show a marked improvement over the course of the swimming season. 

Several of their teammates have been to nationals before, and that experience shows, Geils said.

“It was really cool to see what they were able to do at nationals because we’re not used to swimming at big meets like that and it was really interesting to see the different kinds of choreography and the different skill levels they have,” she said.

Coach Lisa Butler said the team has done fairly well, considering three members of the team are swimming for the first time at the national level.

“We have improved a lot on our own personal scores and have some personal bests, so we’re feeling pretty good,” Butler said on Sunday.
At the very least it’s teaching them valuable life lessons.

“Not only do we gain synchro swimming experience, but there is so much more than goes into it. These girls are in high school, some of them in their last year of high school. They are training upward of 20 hours a week, so it really teaches them how to manage their time with their school work, getting enough sleep, coming to practice all the time.

“It really teaches a lot of dedication to every girl. They’re also learning their synchro skills, and most of them are coaching as well.”
Nationals begin on April 27.