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In 2017, FINA, the world governing body for aquatic sports, decided to rename ‘synchronized swimming’ ‘artistic swimming’ to bring the name in line with artistic gymnastics. It wasn’t an altogether popular decision, but the sport is slowly transitioning over. The governing body of the sport in Ontario is now called Ontario Artistic Swimming (or OAS). Our club officially changed its name in 2021 and is now called Toronto Artistic Swimming (or TASC). However, many people still refer to the sport as “synchro”.

The competitions your Intro Comp, Teen Novice or Competitive swimmer will attend will include figures events and routine events. Junior (16+) teams also have Technical routine events.

Figures:

A figures event is a judged evaluation of each athlete’s technical skills within their age group. Swimmers compete by individually performing four different figures, each in front of a panel of judges. Combined scores from each of the four figures results in the final average and ranking. Scores are out of ‘10’ and are standardized throughout the world and at all levels. Olympic level artistic swimmers score ‘9’s and above; most Novice swimmers will score in the ‘3-5’ range and
most Competitive swimmers will score in the ‘4-6’ range.

Pro Tips for Figures Events

• Don’t invite grandparents and siblings to watch a figures competition – they are NOT exciting!
• Expect quiet! Do not create noise or do anything that could distract the judges.
• Smile or give a thumbs-up but do not talk with your child from the stands.
• Don’t clap or make any loud noise.
• Don’t use your camera’s flash.
• If you are quiet, in most cases you will be able to hear your swimmer’s scores. Or you may be able to see the marks as the judges hold them up to be recorded.
• Pack recognizable bright towels or a bathrobe so that you can identify your child on the pool deck.
• Remove all nail polish and jewelry the day before a competition.
• Remember, your child already has a coach on the pool deck, what they need is a supportive parent in the stands.

Routine Events:

During a routine event, including technical routines if Junior, your swimmer’s team will compete against other teams in their age group. The order of swims is randomized. When it is your team’s turn the team will walk out onto the bulkhead together and get into their positions for their deck work. The coach will indicate to a ref when the team is ready, a whistle will blow and the music will start. Judges sit on either side of the pool during the performance. Some are artistic judges who look at elements such as music interpretation, choreography and manner of presentation and others are technical judges who look at synchronization, execution and the difficulty of the routine. After the team finishes, they will swim to the side and exit the pool. After the next team performs scores for your team will be announced (there is a delay due to behind-the-scenes calculations). Score ranges will be similar to those in Figures events. If the meet includes both figures and routine events, there will also be a Championship score which indicates the team’s overall placement in the competition. Championship Score is made up of each team member’s figures score (50%) and the team’s routine score (50%). Once all teams have performed and the competition is complete coaches often ask judges for feedback so they can make changes to improve the routine before the next competition.

Pro Tips for Routine Events

• Expect loud! Cheer on all the teams, but please make sure to stay quiet at the beginning of the routine so the team can hear the music when it starts. This is the event you want to invite friends and family to attend. There will be an admission charged, usually $10.
• Never go on the pool deck. Only coaches, officials and athletes are allowed on deck.
• Commenting on, judging or criticizing any team is not appropriate.
• Take video of your team’s routine and take pictures WITHOUT a flash.
• Wear light, comfortable clothing and bring a water bottle as the stands get very hot.
• Do not stand or come or go from the gallery while music is playing – this is distracting to the judges, swimmers and other spectators.
• Buy a program or bring some paper if you’d like to keep track of the scores as they are announced.

This is a question that swimmers and parents get asked a lot, and it can be useful to have an answer!

There is a performance tradition in artistic swimming that goes back to the earliest days of the sport and that has become ingrained in its culture. In a routine competition, judges look at a team’s synchronization, the difficulty of the skills performed, and artistic impression. The artistic impression score is based only on how well the swimmers interpret the music and how well the theme of the routine is expressed.

The swimmers’ suits and hair aren’t part of the judging criteria, but because of the traditions of the sport, it’s customary for swimmers to have glittered suits, gelled
hair and makeup that you can see from the stands. Coaches take care to choose music, suit designs and hair and makeup that will appeal to judges and that will be age-appropriate for their swimmers.