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Meaning & Definition
synchronized swimming (also artistic swimming): A performance or competitive sport combining swimming, dance, and gymnastics. Athletes perform choreographed routines of intricate movements, lifts, and lifts in unison while holding their breath underwater, entirely within the water environment.
Pronunciation
IPA: /saɪŋkruːənaɪzd ˈswɪmɪŋ/
Stress: SYNG-krə-nized SWIM-ming (Primary stress on the first syllable of ‘synchronized’ and the first syllable of ‘swimming’).
Morphology
Phonological unit: Three syllables – syn-chro-nized-swim-ming.
Morphology: A compound noun hyphenated when used attributively (e.g., synchronized-swimming team). Composed of the verb “synchronize” + the verb “swim” + the suffix “-ing” in both elements. The first part forms an adjective meaning “occasionally”, the second “water sports activity”.
Grammar: Can be used as a countable noun (e.g., “She competed in two synchronized swims”) or uncountable (general activity).
Usage Notes
Since 2017, the world governing body FINA (World Aquatics) has officially deprecated “synchronized swimming” in favor of “artistic swimming”, primarily recognizing its dance and performance elements alongside technical swimming. However, “synchronized swimming” remains widely understood and used colloquially and in historical contexts.
Synonyms & Word Combinations
Synonyms: Artistic swimming, water ballet (archaic).
Common Collocations: Practice synchronized swimming, watch synchronized swimming, compete in synchronized swimming, perform a synchronized swimming routine, Olympic synchronized swimming, national synchronized swimming championship.
Examples in Context
Simple: The children took synchronized swimming lessons this summer.
Medium: Winning the national synchronized swimming competition requires incredible endurance and precision.
Complex: The athletes’ breathtaking synchronized swimming routine, set to classical music, earned them perfect scores for synchronization despite the physically demanding lifts submerged for over thirty seconds.
Cultural Features
Olympic Sport: Synchronized swimming has been an Olympic sport since 1984 (solo and duet events initially, later team events).
Performance & Teamwork: Emphasizes extreme physical fitness, breath control, memory (of complex routines), artistic expression, and seamless teamwork.
Learning Tips
Mnemonic: Think “Synchroni ZED SWIMming” – they are kept ‘ZED’ (as in ‘synchronized’) together).
Chunking: Break it into parts: SYN-chroni-zed SWIM-ming. Learn the actual meaning – swimmers ‘in time’ – not just the sounds.
Visualization: Imagine swimmers perfectly mirroring each other’s movements beneath the water surface.
Mini-Tasks
- Mnemonic Creation: Invent a phrase or story to remember “synchronized swimming” (e.g., “Swimmers who sing and swim AND are Z’d together”).
- Word Sort: Group these verbs: swim, fly, dance, fly (patterns in the air), run, swim (in water), walk, synchronize. How do the meanings relate? Why does “synchronize” combine with “swim”?
- Sentence Challenge: Write one sentence using “synchronized swimming” describing training, another describing watching a competition, and a third describing the history of the sport.
- Thesaurus Hunt: Besides “artistic swimming”, find 2 other synonyms for “swimming”. How do their connotations differ? (e.g., dip, paddle, plunge, backyard swimming)
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