Synchronized Swimming

Synchronized Swimming (MSHSL) is a spring sport typically lasting 14-15 weeks. Our team is considered a “co-op team” which includes swimmers from other schools (currently Minnetonka, Blake and Providence Academy).

2023 season

The 2023 season officially begins with the first practice on Monday, 3/6/2023. Additional information about Minnetonka Synchronized Swimming can be found at https://www.blakebears.org/synchro

schedule

Visit https://www.blakebears.org/synchro

About Synchronized Swimming

Only a few states in the US have high school synchronized swimming.
In Minnesota, the high school system includes 14 schools, divided into 3 sections (East, West, and Central)
- East: Columbia Heights, Forest Lake, Itasca, Richfield, Stillwater
- West: Wayzata, Eden Prairie, Blake, Hopkins, Prior Lake
- Central: Maple Grove-Osseo, Edina, Bloomington, St. Louis Park
High School synchro has 3 divisions:
- Short (JV)
- Long (Varsity)
- Extended (Varsity)
Swimmers may compete in more than one division for different events
Synchro has two components:
- Figures:
  - Required skills for synchronized swimming performed individually, and slowly, without music.
  - Scored by a panel of judges, on design and control.
  - All swimmers wear black suits and white caps for figures for all meets throughout the season.
  - There are JV and Varsity figures. JV figures disappear after the regular season, and everyone does Varsity figures at Section & State meets.
- Routines
  - Solos, Duets, Trios and Teams
  - Solos = 1 swimmer, Duets = 2 swimmers, Trios = 3 swimmers, Teams = 4 to 8 swimmers.
    One quarter bonus point is added to the score for each additional swimmer over four, for team routines.
  - Each school team is limited to 18 routines to be divided among the solo, duet, and trio categories in which they qualify. Unlimited entries in team categories are allowed.
  - Each competitor may enter a maximum of 3 categories; if they do so, one must be a team.
  - They are judged by a panel of officials for Technical Merit and Artistic Impression.
  - Swimmers wear black swimsuits and white caps for routine competition for regular season meets. For championship meets, swimmers will wear embroidered costume suits, headpieces, and gelatin in their hair to hold it in place
There are usually 6 competitive meets (dual or tri-team) in the regular season:
- The first 3 meets are figures only
- The last 3 meets are routines only
- We work on both figures and routines at practice the whole season
- During dual/tri meets, each school may enter 6 routines for points: 1 team routine, with the remaining 5 routines being distributed among solos, duets and trios with no more than 2 entries per event.
Championship competitions have both figure and routine components and the scores are combined to each total 50% of your score.
Routines or Figures that place in the top 4 at the Section meet for each division go on to state (e.g. short figures, short solos, etc.)
Once you place in an event at state (1st-7th place), you will permanently move into the next division for that event.
Once you place in any event for any division at state, you may no longer compete in the short division.