This isn’t your grandma’s synchronized swimming routine.
When people think of synchronized swimming, they might be picturing a serene ballet routine in the water.
That might be the case for some of the beautiful performances but in one jaw-dropping routine by the Spanish team at the 2009 World Swimming Championships in Rome, all pre-conceived notions were thrown out the window.
It isn’t typical for synchronized swim teams to choose music with lyrics.
The Spanish athletes performed an unforgettable synchronized swimming routine to the music of one of the greatest rock bands of all time, Led Zeppelin.
The song they chose was “Stairway to Heaven”, which is by itself one of the best rock songs of all time.
The edgy song with its lullaby melodies and wild guitar rifts made for a synchronized swimming routine like no other.
The judges and audience were gripped by the emotion in the song and by the power of the Spanish team.
There’s no doubt the team has changed the way people view synchronized swimming.
Their moves are perfectly in sync with the music and they make the most difficult moves look easy.
The ladies ended up winning the gold medal at the World Swimming Championships with their routine.
The skill, grace, strength, and practice it takes to pull off a perfect synchronized swimming routine is truly amazing. According to swimswam.com, there is so much that goes into a great routine.
“To achieve perfect synchronization with those around them, synchronized swimmers must count in their head and at the same pace as everyone else.” – swimswam.com
Perfect synchronization adds another element of difficulty and requires the team to do ‘land drills.’
“Land drilling” is exactly what it sounds like: going through the routine… on land. They use specific arm movements and positioning to block out the figures since they are without the weightlessness of the water. However, they must practice the routine hundreds of times in order to get a feel for the water and perfectly synchronize an average team of eight people in one three-minute-performance.” – swimswam.com
Watch out for the air guitar!
In addition to the powerful jumps out of the water and the perfect timing of water kicks and leg lifts, the athletes show off their fun side with a little air guitar.
These ladies know how to perform for the audience.
Commenters online were in awe of this memorable performance.
It’s truly inspiring how this team pushed the boundaries of what can be achieved in the sport of synchronized swimming.
This is one performance that will go down in history.
See the Spanish synchronized swim team’s ground-breaking routine in the video below!
