QA0217: Reading Activity: Synchronized Swimming - ESL 400B-1 Lab - Spring I - Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Read the following article entitled, "Synchronized Swimming and then answer questions on the exercises to follow.

It’s part swimming, part gymnastics, and part dance. It’s synchronized swimming, one of the more unusual sports in the Olympic Games. Many people love to watch it. The swimmers move their bodies in and out, forward and back, on the surface and under water. They move in perfect time with each other and the music. Synchronized swimming was first called “water ballet.” It’s easy to see why. It’s like ballet. And like ballet, it seems easy, but it isn’t. The swimmers seem natural and relaxed, but they have to train for a long time. Many exercises are done underwater, so they have to hold their breath for as long as two minutes. It takes a lot of strength, power, and energy. Synchronized swimming first began in Europe in the 1890s. At that time, swimmers often trained outside, in rivers or in lakes. The first synchronized swimmers were men. But by the middle of the 20th century, most synchronized swimmers were women. Swimmers sometimes performed in the theater, where they swam in large water tanks on the stage! Later, some Hollywood musicals used synchronized swimmers. The swimmer/actress Esther Williams starred in movies such as Bathing Beauty in 1944 and Million Dollar Mermaid in 1952. Synchronized swimming became an Olympic sport in 1984. In the Olympic Games, swimmers work in teams of nine athletes or in pairs. They show their skills by doing special movements above and below the water. They do not touch the bottom of the pool. Instead, they move their hands like flippers and kick their feet. This helps them stay up in the water. Like all Olympic athletes, they work very hard. Their dream is the same: to win a medal for their country in the Olympic Games.

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