Artistic swimmers from across the Maritimes ‘dazzle’ with year-end shows

Artistic swimmers from across the Maritimes are in Halifax for an end-of-year water show.

If you’re not familiar with artistic swimming, that might be because it used to be called a different name. In the past, it was known as synchronized swimming.

“It is actually very much like if you think about figure skating where everything is worth a certain amount of difficulty and you have to execute it to get points,” said swimmer Isla Cohen.

Artistic swimmers from across the Maritimes are in Halifax this weekend for a year-end water show.

Atlantis Artistic Swimming Club is hosting Dazzling Divas at Centennial Pool. It’s the fourth year the club has hosted the event.

“It displays all the athleticism and also some of the theatrical elements to artistic swimming,” said club chair Andrea Cohen.

This is the first time athletes from New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island are participating in the show.

“That’s an exciting new element for our club is to also include some of the other Maritime provinces in our show,” said Andrea.

The swimmers range in age from under 10 all the way up to 70.

“A lot of these athletes will be heading to Canada Games this summer to represent Team Nova Scotia. They compete at the provincial and national level,” said Andrea. “We also have athletes who compete and perform in the all-abilities.”

It’s a sport that requires a lot of strength, said Andrea.

“Any of the acrobatics that are thrown and tossed in the air, you will notice that none of the swimmers touch the bottom of the pool. That’s all just using their upper arm strength and their leg strength to push and throw,” she said.

While the performances are skill-focused, another element is the costumes.

“In competitions we wear costumes to really elevate the artistic impression aspect,” said swimmer Olivia Hawrylk.

Dazzling Divas kicked off Friday night. Shows will also take place Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

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