A brief history into synchronised swimming and our club

Synchronised swimming was originally developed in the early 1900’s in Canada and was first demonstrated at the Olympics in 1952 and has been a recognised Olympic sport since 1984.

The sport demands advanced water skills, and requires great strength, endurance, flexibility, grace, artistry and precise timing, as well as exceptional breath control when upside down underwater. The apparent gracefulness displayed above water masks the level of activity taking place beneath. When tested and compared with other Olympic athletes the results showed that synchronised swimmers ranked second only to long distance runners in aerobic capacity, and to gymnasts in flexibility.

It used to be considered exclusively as a female sport and at Olympic and World Championship level but as time times are changing to become more accepting so is the sport, young men are beginning to get involved and they now compete in mixed teams, at COB we welcome anyone of any gender and/or race as we believe everyone should be able to have the freedom to participate in sports.

The City of Birmingham Synchronised Swimming Club was originally formed in 1984 and over the years we have had a number of successes with members being selected to represent Great Britain. Our Head Coach, Allison Pratt, swam for Great Britain in her youth in which she was the team captain and won a gold in the 1983 European Championships. Allison is also a prestigious FINA ‘A’ class judge for synchro and because of this she has been able to judge at the Olympic a multitude of times.

The City of Birmingham Swimming Club, of which we are a section of, was founded in 1983 as an umbrella Aquatic Club, with Speed Swimming, Synchro, Water Polo and Disabilities all represented. It is fully affiliated to Swim England.

Swim England is the English national governing body for swimming, diving, water polo, open water and synchronised swimming. It organises competitions throughout England, establishes the laws of the sport and operates comprehensive certification and education programmes for teachers, coaches and officials as well as its renowned Learn To Swim Awards scheme. Swim England also supports 1,600 affiliated swimming clubs through a National/Regional/County structure and we have close links with the West Midlands Region and the Warwickshire Region.