Friday, September 3, 2010

Underwater Sensations

Mermaids do exist. In the form of underwater beauties or rather synchronized swimmers.

Now synchronized swimming has always had a hard time establishing itself as a "sport" but let's be honest, how many Pro football or hockey players can hold their breathe while performing?

Just as dance has recently been pushed to the forefront of athleticism, due to popular reality shows such as "So You Think You Can Dance?" and "Dancing with the Stars," it is finally being recognized as a sport. With the most recent winner of the former being displayed on Gatorade bottles.


The misconception that sports like dance, gymnastics and synchronized swimming are not in fact "sports" or the argument that they aren't true sports remains to me incomprehensible and faulty.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines sport as "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment"

This definition alone should be enough to convince naysayers but a lot of times it's not. And it's not worth my time to convince people that holding your breathe and depriving your body of oxygen (crucial to body functioning and life) while performing physically exhausting figures and lifts against water pressure is by definition a sport.

However, synchronized swimming is also an art form.

Beauty and grace combined with strength, agility, flexibility and creativity.

So before you stop believing in the unbelievable, look up Synchronized Swimming on YouTube and see the modern Mermaids that exist and compete in teams, duets, and solos in a sport that with growing credibility still gets flooded with negativity by those whose brains have been waterlogged.

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