Synchronization takes a lot of practice. And after many months of dedication, the Nanaimo Diamonds hope all that practice will pay off.
The city’s synchronized swim club is preparing for its final event of the season, the Jean Peters provincial meet, starting Friday (May 24) in Victoria.
The Diamonds will have several entries in the competition, from the six-member Level 4 provincial team down to the Level 1 youngsters.
“We’ve got a lot of first-time competitive swimmers so it’s exciting for them,” said Brenda Scott, coach of the Diamonds. “This is their first big provincial championship, but these girls are strong. We’ve had some really good placings.”
As for the club’s higher-level swimmers, those girls are at the pool four or five times a week, including marathon six-and-a-half-hour sessions on Sundays. The do a lot of video analysis, too, as they’re always fine-tuning.
“It’s just mental right now,” said Scott. “They’ve got to know they can do it and they have to want it.
“They’ve done all the training, they know the routine. They’ve just got to keep it together.”
The competition will be tough. There are only four teams in the Level 4 division, but all of them are from out-of-province, so they haven’t just entered the meet on a whim.
Sarah Warsh, one of the members of the Level 4 team, said she and her teammates want to do well because they’re representing their club and their city.
“We’re really excited and we’re performing really strong because we want to go out there with a bang,” she said.
Warsh said last week that the Diamonds felt prepared, but would continue to work hard over their last few practices.
“We need to keep pushing ourselves and always be performing how we would for a competition and really visualizing and really wanting it,” she said. “Because if you don’t want it, then you won’t get it.”
IN SYNCH … The Diamonds will host a water show June 16 at 4:30 p.m. at Beban Pool.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com