Kitsch in synch

The US team performs their technical routine

By Paul Cohen, Sydney

After the big feet it was the turn of the big teeth at the Sydney Aquatic Centre.

Love them or mock them, the synchronised swimmers have been a part of the Olympic landscape since Los Angeles embraced them in 1984 and they are here to stay.

But is it sport? That remains the question, and it will take a lot longer than 16 years to bridge the credibility gap.

Is it entertainment? Well, yes, but so is pantomime-on-ice and they don't award medals to the ugly sisters.

Glitz

What it does have is glamour and glitz. Synchronised swimming is the only sport where competitors wear gold, silver and bronze before the ceremony.

In the eight-team event at the pool the costumes were positively sparkling, almost as brightly as the smiles.

They do smile a lot these ladies but that should not detract from a lot of gruelling work that goes into their routines. It can not be easy to perform athletic feats in perfect unison with your head five feet underwater.

There was a near full-house in attendance but that is typical of these intensely supported Games. There was also the draw of the Australian team in a country where Monopoly would bring out the masses if there was a player decked out in green and gold.

In the first day of competition the teams went through their technical routine, walking out to the music of their choice, performing a poolside routine not too far removed from a game of twister, before plunging into the water and doing their stuff.

Melodrama

The free routine was not due until the following day but there was nothing uniform about the performances of each nation.

The Chinese were dainty, the Americans jazzy while the Italians were downright melodramatic.

The Japanese did not smile as their martial arts-themed routine demanded a mean look. But a perfect ten among the marks for technical merit brought out the grins.....in perfect unison of course.

The Russians have taken over as world leaders in the sport and their team pushed the Japanese into second place at the end of the first day with Canada third.

The Australians were in last place. Now that doesn't happen often.