1. Being On Time Matters
Whether it's for a hybrid in the pool or a meeting for work, after all the drills your coach made you do, the importance of being on time has been engrained into your core value set.
2. Teams Only Work When Everyone Is Putting In The Effort
Every synchronized swimmer knows that their lifts will fail if not everyone is supporting them. When working on teams in school and at jobs, it is the exact same. If someone isn't pulling their weight, the project may not be completed or will come with a lot of struggles.
3. How To Set Short-Term And Long-Term Goals
If your end goal in synchronized swimming is to make it to Junior Olympics, then you know there are many steps you need to take to get there. You may need to get your flat splits, or you need to be sharper with your movements, or you need to have higher eggbeater. Synchronized swimming taught you that in order to make your long-term goals achievable, you had to set short term goals as well. In school and at a workplace, long-term success is achievable in the same way.
4. How To Stick Up For Yourself
Synchronized swimming is the subject of a lot of controversies. People often fail to see the athleticism required to perform a synchronized swimming routine and becuase of this, many synchro athletes learn how to effectively debate and stand up for their beliefs and their values. This characteristic is invaluable later in life, when obstacles begin to challenge your core beliefs.
5. How To Be A Graceful Winner And A Classy Loser
Synchro teaches to be proud of your achievements but still cheer on, support, and inspire other teams to reach their goals. When you lose, you're taught to keep your head up and stay motivated to achieve more. Even after many swimmers move on to other careers, they bring these values with them and become humble and strong workers.
6. Confidence
Synchronized swimming is probably one of the best sports for teaching confidence. You learn to strut your stuff, be proud of who you are, and show off your talents. Synchronized swimmers often end up being the best public speakers because they are so comfortable in front of a crowd.
7. It's Okay To Be Different and Stand Out
This may seem counterintuitive because a large part of synchronized swimming is about looking the same as your teammates. But the process that leads to the routine is a creative and innovative journey. So many synchronized swimmers learn to think outside the box to come up with new ideas for routines and each swimmer that makes up the team is different in their own beautiful way. These individual differences are what makes each routine beautiful. A coach that can synthesize these distinctions is a good one. The creativity and sense of self that many swimmers feel after swimming for many years makes for a strong, independent individual.
8. Value Your Community
Synchronized swimming isn't your common, popular varsity sport, and teams are much harder to come by. Because of this, synchronized swimmers have banded together in a very tight-knit, supportive community. Having this friendship makes each swimmer stronger and they will likely value organizations that give them this type of support later in their lives.
