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http://www.dispatch.com/osusports/osusports.php?story=dispatch/2005/02/11/20050211-F7-00.html
SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING
Talk about dynasties . . . OSU is swimming in titles
Friday, February 11, 2005
Craig Merz
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle></IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>GARRETT HUBBARD | DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Ohio State juniors Chelsea Luker, left, and Carly Grimshaw swim their winning duet routine during a meet Saturday in the Peppe Aquatic Center. Both are two-time All-Americans. </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>
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When it comes to dominant forces, the New England Patriots and their three Super Bowl wins in four years are pikers compared with the synchronized swimmers at Ohio State.
Try 24 collegiate national titles in 28 seasons, including the last five.
"It’s nice to be known as a dynasty," junior Carly Grimshaw said.
But like many sports at OSU, synchronized swimming seems to draw attention only every four years during the Olympics.
"It can be frustrating doing something so amazing and people don’t know about it," acting coach Holly Vargo-Brown said.
Lack of NCAA sanctioning for the sport contributes to the lack of awareness.
OSU’s annual first-place finishes at the Collegiate National Championships don’t count toward the Directors’ Cup, the all-sports standings compiled by the National Association of College Directors of Athletics. Ohio State was fourth in the standings for the 2003-04 season.
"It frustrates us as a team that we represent the university really well but don’t count toward those points," Vargo-Brown said. "We’d like to help contribute. Still, the university has been very supportive, even though we’re not sanctioned."
That means OSU does not treat it as a club sport, and swimmers go through rigorous two-a-day practices like athletes in other sports. And they are consistent winners.
"We like to joke, ‘How come we haven’t met the President of the United States?’ because we’ve won the championship so many years," junior Chelsea Luker said. "The football team went to the White House when they won. What about us?"
Luker, of Montreal, and Grimshaw, of Markham, Ontario, might prefer the prime minister of Canada.
They are examples of OSU’s reach beyond Ohio. In 2002, Brazilian twins Carolina and Isabela Moraes became the first pair in collegiate history to win the duet competition four consecutive years. They also finished 12 th in duet at the 2002 Summer Olympics.
"The international students come to us," Vargo-Brown said. "They understand the reputation of the university and the synchronized swimming program."
Most of the team’s 26 members have been consumed by the sport for more than half their lives, although a glance at the team’s biographies reveals a number of athletes who spent their high-school years playing soccer, water polo or competing on swim teams.
"They’re pretty well-rounded athletes. At some point, they’ve got to make a decision," Vargo-Brown said. "For some, it means starting at age 9 or 10. The sport takes a long time to master."
Grimshaw said she gravitated to synchro at an early age. "I thought swimming lessons were too boring," she said.
Instead of doing laps, synchronized swimming involves choreographed routines that last up to four minutes, depending on the discipline — all without touching the pool bottom. Smiles and personal appearance are a big part of the scoring, which judges technical precision and artistic impression.
Their routines include solo, duet, trio and team, which consists of four to eight swimmers.
And don’t tell Luker that they aren’t athletes: Try treading water for four minutes and see how your arms and legs feel.
"It’s our job to make it look so easy. You don’t see all the hard work," Grimshaw said.
Beyond the athletic rigors, team members have faced personal challenges the last two years in pursuit of national titles.
Coach Linda Lichter-Witter took a leave in 2004 to assist the U.S. Olympic team that won a bronze medal in Athens, Greece. She was to return in the fall for her 10 th year at Ohio State but was diagnosed with cancer and is on medical leave.
"It’s difficult seeing a good friend going through a traumatic time," Vargo-Brown said. "It’s additionally difficult knowing she’s a co-worker."
Lichter-Witter is never far from the team’s thoughts, Grimshaw said.
"She’s concerned about us. We want to show her that we can do well and win another championship," she said.
Vargo-Brown stepped in and won the United States Synchronized Swimming Institute’s collegiate coach of the year award. The four-time letter-winner at OSU (1981 to 1984) was an All-American her senior year.
Coming up this spring, the team will compete in the Collegiate National Championships on March 24-26 in Gainesville, Fla. The U.S. National Championships — open to all clubs and universities — is April 28-30 in Federal Way, Wash. In that competition last year, OSU’s "A" team was second and the "B" team sixth.
Vargo-Brown hopes more schools join the 33 with synchro programs so that the sport will become part of the NCAA championships. The NCAA lists it as an "emerging sport," so her goal might be realized.
The OSU team will get a boost at home with the opening next season of the Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion. Vargo-Brown sees promise for the program as a result.
"For all of the aquatic sports here, it will be a big plus," she said. "We’ll be able to host national and international competitions."
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