Timing everything for synchronized swimmers

Olympic dreams built on sequins, breathless workouts, even a circus act

By Clay Latimer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 2, 2008 at 3 p.m.

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Photo by Kat Wade/Special to the Rocky

Janet Culp is propelled through the air by Kim Probst during harness training at the Circus Center.

Photo by Antonio Scorza/AFP/Getty Images

Janet Culp gets a lift – literally – during the Synchronized Swimming World Trophy event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Photo by Kat Wade/Special to the Rocky

Janet Culp, right, and teammate Kim Probst stretch after finishing their harness balancing practice at the Circus Center in California.

Sure, training for the Olympics is tough, but just try it with a bunch of clowns - not to mention bouncing acrobats, contortionists, trapeze acts and other circus performers.

A big top might not be an appropriate training facility for most world-class athletes, but for Janet Culp and her U.S. synchronized swimming teammates, it's a wonderfully weird and productive detour on the grinding road to the 2008 Beijing Games.

Twice a week, on the southern edge of San Francisco's Haight- Ashbury district, the 26-year-old Littleton High School graduate works on routines at Circus Center, a cavernous old building where characters of all sorts dream of traveling tent shows.

Buckled into a harness, dangling from the ceiling, she lowers herself until her feet touch her teammate's shoulders, then vaults skyward, performing the same flips and twists that flow seamlessly in water.

"Way back in the day, I did gymnastics," she said. "But this is pretty new to me."

Circus acts and synchronized swimmers hardly are an odd pairing. Illusions and false perspectives are crucial in the obscure, often ridiculed sport. So is showmanship, which explains the sequin swimsuits, persistent smiles, gleaming makeup and Broadway pizazz.

Yet beneath the surface glitter, it's exhausting work, comparable to completing a gymnastics routine under water.

A typical three-minute set contains more than 30 formations, dozens of throws and lifts, and antic sequences coordinated down to the fingertips.

Swimmers aren't allowed to touch the bottom, spend about half their time under water, frequently upside down, and must hold their breath for nearly a minute while performing moves that would leave many athletes gasping for air on dry land.

Lightweights don't last. Dislocated knees, broken noses, blown-out eardrums and shoulders and emotional burnout have grounded many synchro stars, who compete in duet and team events.

Runs in the family

At 5-foot-3 and 115 pounds, Culp is an ideal team "flyer," the tiny acrobat at the top of a multi- tiered underwater pyramid that begins a couple of feet from the bottom, where the first group of swimmers initiate the upward push that ultimately catapults Culp as much as 10 feet above the surface of the water.

"Our timing has to be absolutely perfect," she said of the eight- woman team. "All the force has to be generated by the girls, but we're not using the ground as leverage for the force.

"People who make jokes about synchronized swimming have never tried it. That's the most irritating part. If they went to the pool and actually tried it . . .

"It's not just that it requires the athleticism of swimming a 200-meter freestyle, or running a race. It's also the aspect of holding your breath and trying to look pretty and moving at the same time. You have to know exactly where your arms and legs and bodies are supposed to be on every single count."

Mocked or not, the sport long has fascinated Culp and her twin sister, Jennie, one of the last Olympic team cuts.

Their interest in water sports comes naturally. Mike Culp, their father, swam for the University of Nebraska and still competes in master's division events.

The Culp girls started as speed swimmers, eventually competing for Littleton High School's 2000 state championship team. But in summer 1992, they dipped their toes into synchro swimming, a hybrid of sport and theater, joined the Rocky Mountain Splash a while later, then flipped into overdrive.

"I didn't picture myself as a tomboy, but as kind of a girlie girl," Jennie said. "I liked the makeup and stuff like that. Janet and I were always making up little dance routines to music in the basement. And we loved to swim. So the next logical step was combining the two."

Olympic dream

After the Culps made national waves in their midteens, Santa Clara Aquamaid coaches urged them to train with the club but couldn't persuade them to leave their family and friends until after high school.

"That was kind of cool," Mike Culp said. "They always had their priorities."

Instead of accepting swimming scholarships to Ohio State, Auburn or another marquee program, the Culps attended Santa Clara University on academic rides and joined the Aquamaids, who produced the majority of U.S. Olympians in 2004.

"Although the Olympics were always their dream, as a parent you say: 'Oh, yeah, that'd be nice.' But what are the chances? Colorado is not necessarily a mecca for synchronized swimming," said their mother, Shirley Culp.

On the cusp of her dream, Jennie suffered a shoulder injury in early 2006 and underwent surgery that June. In April 2007, Janet was named to the 2008 Olympic team after the U.S. National Championships in Indianapolis. Jennie didn't make the cut.

"That was the hardest thing I've ever done because I was so thrilled for Janet and just devastated for Jennie, right at the same time. I didn't know how to emotionally handle it," Mike Culp said.

"The girls are very supportive of one another, but they're quietly very competitive."

Jennie, who graduated with honors from Santa Clara and is engaged to be married this fall, will watch her sister swim in Beijing in August.

Shirley and Mike already are gearing up for the big day.

And Janet? She's totally immersed in training, including her sessions at the Circus Center, home to many soaring spirits.

"I'm just so thankful for this experience. I still wake up and say: 'Oh, my God. Wow,' It's still shocking," she said. "I don't think it will really hit me until the opening ceremonies.

"But it's definitely bittersweet. I wish my sister was here. But I also know it's not ruining her life. She's getting married in September, she's really enjoying life.

"We never put all our eggs in one basket."

Synchro 101

* First wave: In the U.S., synchronized swimming was introduced in New York in 1907, when Australian Annette Kellerman popularized "exhibition swimming" in a glass tank at the Hippodrome. She was known as the "million-dollar mermaid."

* Training: At the Olympic level, synchronized swimming is a full-time job, consuming up to eight hours a day. In addition to their work in the pool, the swimmers also run and bike to build endurance.

* Big screen: It's probably the only sport that owes much of its popularity to Hollywood. In the 1940s and 1950s, big-budget MGM productions featuring Esther Williams, right, created worldwide appeal for synchro.

* Tools of trade: Swimmers put unflavored Knox Gelatine in their hair to keep it out of their faces. Nose clips keep water from entering competitors' noses; swimmers keep a backup pair in their suits in case the original falls out.

* Pop culture: Synchro made its Olympic debut in 1984, the same year Saturday Night Live poked fun at the sport with a famous skit featuring Martin Short, who played an uncoordinated athlete with a goofy grin.

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