With five years of competitive swimming and eight years of coaching under her belt, a returning coach will be leading the Flin Flon Aqua Doves into formation.
Kirsten Fritsch was a fill-in coach last year with the synchronized swimming program, but will be taking the lead role this year as head coach.
Though the 24-year-old has never done synchronized swimming herself, she has coached the sport for the past four years.
Originally based out of Thunder Bay, Fritsch began coaching when she was 16 after an area club was looking for help.
“I was a competitive swim coach. I moved cities and they didn’t need any competitive swim coaches, but were desperate for synchro coaches,” she said, with a smile.
Fritsch didn’t know the sport, but “loved to coach.” She coached at the recreational level for synchronized swimming in Thunder Bay for two years before making her way to Flin Flon.
Fritsch moved to the community two years ago to teach at the elementary level at Creighton Community School.
Once hearing about the Aqua Doves, she “jumped with two feet right into the synchro program.”
Change of pace
Compared to last year, Fritsch is looking at a big change of pace.
“Last year I filled in. I was the fun coach and had a good time,” she said. “Now I’m the head coach and there’s a lot of paperwork and laying down the rules and organizing.”
But a benefit to moving up to head coach, Fritsch said, is being able to see the swimmers at each practice.
“I’m here at every practice and get to see the girls and their progress,” she said.
The coach took two courses in Winnipeg over the summer to prepare for the upcoming season. She took an introduction to competitive synchronized swimming as well as a course on long-term athlete development.
“Both of those courses made the transition into head coach easier,” she said.
Expanding
Last year, the Aqua Doves offered a Squirt program, which taught the basics and introductory level education to younger participants. This year, the numbers weren’t strong enough to warrant the Squirt program.
“So, we made our recreational program bigger to make room for all of those girls,” Fritsch said. The recreational program has roughly a dozen girls with a focus geared
towards fun.
“We have our FUNdamentals class and it’s basic body positioning for synchro and getting used to being under the water,” said the coach.
Synchronized swimming isn’t natural for the human body, she said, so there is training
to adjust.
“Your body doesn’t want to naturally spend 20 seconds at a time without breathing,” she said.
Through the beginner course, Fritsch says she hopes the introduction will encourage the girls to stay with the program and transition into the competitive side.
Girls only
Synchronized swimming is currently a female-only sport recognized at the Olympic level. In the future, the sport could see the transition to male and female duets.
But for right now, she’s just fine with the Aqua Doves, and other clubs, being females only.
“We are in our bathing suits where we’re maybe self conscience,” she said, as the girls range in age from four to 15. “It empowers the girls. They have a chance to do something that they are really good at and meet up with other girls that have the same competitive mentality and drive as them. So, I think it’s OK that we are all girls.”
More than a sport
Like any sport, synchronized swimming offers it’s fair share of life lessons.
“More than anything, you become part of a team,” said Fritsch. “You never see your teammates because you’re underwater, but at the same time you have to be in sync with them, move in sync with them, and help them out. Sometimes your teammate can only breathe when you (go) under (the water).”
Similar to sports like hockey or football, the athletes are always working together to reach the same goal, but Fritsch says in synchronized swimming a lot of the work goes unnoticed by the audience.
“There might be a shinning start that we lift into the air,” she said, “But there are seven girls under the water holding her up.”
The girls are in the pool four hours a week and spend two hours a week doing dry land training.
The Aqua Doves will compete twice this year as they visit the Crocus Challenge in Winnipeg in April and then the Canadian Prairie Invitational in May in Saskatoon.
The girls will host a water show in January to show their friends and family what they have worked so hard on.
