Lone Star Synchro members, from left, Eryn Collins, Sarah McKay, Joanne Wright, Verónica Hebert and Crys Koe after swimming at Nationals
New USAAS policy allows swimmers of all genders — and no gender — to participant in artistic swimming
Lone Star Synchro, DFW’s artistic swimming team for adults, is holding a holiday show Wednesday, Dec. 13, at 8 p.m. at the David A. Segal Aquatic Center of Jesuit Preparatory School, 12345 Inwood Road. Before the show, team member Crystal Koe talked with Dallas Voice about the team, their own background as a swimmer and what the new policy means for them and the sport.
— Tammye Nash
Verónica Hebert, left, and Crys Koe with their 2023 National Champtionship gold medals (Photo courtesy of Lone Star Synchro)
Dallas Voice: First of all, explain to me what artistic swimming is? Crystal Koe: Artistic swimming is an Olympic sport where swimmers perform choreographed routines to music in the water, blending athleticism with artistic performance. Swimmers are scored on technical ability as well as artistic impression, with points given for degree of difficulty, how much of the pool is covered and the execution of various elements. Artistic swimmers never touch the bottom of the pool; all movement are powered by the swimmers’ strength. Artistic swimming used to be called synchronized swimming and is often referred to as synchro, still.
What is the background of Lone Star Synchro? How was it formed, and how long has it been around? Lone Star Synchro is the only year-round masters — or adult — team in North Texas. We are a 501(c)(3) organization and a member club of USA Artistic Swimming. We are self-coached and volunteer-run, with the goal of expanding the knowledge and artistry of artistic swimming while getting exercise and having fun trying new things in the water. In 2020, Pirouettes of Texas’ Masters members officially transitioned to the Lone Star Synchro organization, and we have been recruiting and growing ever since. We are one of the few masters teams in the U.S. that welcomes newcomers, and our swimmers range in ability from beginners who attended an intro class to try synchro for the first time to athletes who represented their national teams as youth.
What kind of schedule does the team maintain? How often does the team compete? How did the team do overall at the most recent competition? LSS practices twice a week, year-round, with our main competition being the U.S. Masters National Championship in October. Closer to competition, we might have some weekend extra practices.
We have been invited to perform at a few local events over the last year, where we get to practice our routines for an audience and build up support for the organization. On Oct. 19-22, we competed in Oro Valley, Az., for the 2023 Nationals and medaled in four events: golds in the 50-59 duet and gender inclusive solo categories; silver in the 35-49 combination event where swimmers perform as a team with solo, duet, and trio breakout elements; and bronze in the 40-49 trio category. The competition is broken down into age groups, with the exception of the Gender Inclusive and Athletes with Disabilities categories.
Tell me about your background. How long have you been involved in artistic swimming, and how did you get involved? I swam from the ages of 12 to 16 in Malaysia, where I was recruited from a beginner camp to train for my home state’s re-establishment of the synchro program. I’d always been fascinated by synchronized swimmers I saw on TV, who looked so graceful and performed amazing feats. I didn’t realize how much more difficult it is to do than they made it look. You not only have to be able to swim nearly as fast as competitive speed swimmers, you also have to memorize choreography, work on flexibility like gymnasts and do weight and stamina training to keep your height in the water at what feels like sprinting for three minutes at a time — all while holding your breath and making it look effortless. And it’s a team sport, so you have to cultivate those dynamics as well.
After swimming on my state team for three years, I was recruited to the national team in my last year of high school, where I got as far as the World Junior Championships in Moscow. I stopped swimming when I left the country to come to Texas for college almost 20 years ago, and I never thought I’d do it again. Until I found out about Lone Star Synchro in 2021, I didn’t know that masters artistic swimming existed.
What has been the process involved in getting USA Artistic Swimming to change the gender inclusion policy? How long has the process taken? I was not personally involved, though I was able to speak about this with the CEO of USA Artistic Swimming and a board member involved in the process. At the end of the day, those in leadership decided that USAAS wanted to be leading the way when it comes to diversity and inclusion in sports, and what seems like such a simple solution to the wealth of controversy around gender in sports took multiple years of very intense discussion.
The new Gender Inclusion Policy was announced with the headline “Our Sport is for Everyone,” and it allows athletes to compete in the category that aligns best with their gender identity by self-declaration, without needing to jump through hoops.
In addition to the binary gendered categories that existed before, they added a Gender Inclusive category for swimmers who don’t identify as one of the binary genders. This was piloted among youth at the Junior Olympics and for adults at the recent National Championship.
What does it mean to you, personally, to be able to compete as a non-gendered person? Why is that distinction important? And how does this new policy open the sport up to other people? It means being recognized. I lived most of my life according to a label given to me because of the shape of my body; once I realized that I felt more able to be myself without these labels and restrictions, my conflict was no longer internal but a result of navigating the very gendered spaces that our society is built around, having to self-declare as something I’m not, from paperwork to bathrooms. And it matters that I can participate in my sport openly as myself without having to call myself a label I don’t identify with; to have the validation by an external entity saying You are real; you exist; you can be a part of this world without hiding.”
One of the reasons I’ve been given for someone not willing to refer to me using neutral words is that a lack of gender is not accepted in society, evidenced by the fact that everything is gendered to the binary. So moves like this — having a sports category recognizing identities outside of the binary genders or being able to get a neutral marker on your ID or marriage certificate — provide structural support for people to exist in public the way they see themselves.
Artistic swimming used to be a female-exclusive sport; male swimmers will be competing in the Olympics for the first time only next year. And now we have the beginnings of precedent for a greater acceptance of gender diversity outside the binary, and a model of one way this can be done in a respectful way. USAAS even made sure to have gender neutral changing rooms clearly labeled, so they are doing more than just lip service to their commitment to inclusivity. The fact that USAAS has clearly announced that this sport is for everyone — cis, trans, nonbinary or not gendered at all — and put those words into action means that maybe some people who would never have thought to give artistic swimming a try might try it now.
The solo I performed at Nationals was conceived as an act of celebration and self-affirmation; when it was announced, the new inclusive category at Nationals felt like the perfect opportunity to present something that was wholly me for the first time. For the song, I rewrote lyrics to one of my favorite pieces by Sara Bareilles and recorded myself singing to the piano-playing of one of my parents. This performance is meant to be a re-introduction of myself in the neutral to everyone who’s known me before as something else — for a minute-and-a-half, I’m swimming to my own voice underwater, singing “They’re not gone; They have always been me.”
How does someone get involved with Lone Star Synchro? What kind of experience do you need to join? What kind of instruction does the team offer to help people learn and/or improve? We host introductory classes several times a year, where swimmers will learn a few basics of the sport. Interested swimmers age 18 and up will need to be able to swim at least 100 yards, be comfortable going upside down and comfortable being underwater in deep water. Registration is required, along with a fee, for insurance purposes.
Our next class will take place at the end of January. To join the team, you must be able to complete certain artistic swimming skills, which will be taught at the beginner classes. Head coach Sarah McKay also offers private lessons for swimmers who wish to work on skills, beginner to advanced. Once on the team for weekly practices, some days are dedicated to skill development while some days are focused on routine work — besides feedback from the coaches, we take turns watching each other and giving advice, so we all continually improve.
What have I not asked that you want to mention? Our show on Dec. 13 is free and open to the public, though registration is requested via EventBrite.com. It will be about 45 minutes long and will showcase of the various routines we have been working on this year, along with a Christmas-themed routine choreographed specifically for the show that has swimmers at all skill levels swimming together.
We’d love to have some new faces in the audience. Not many people have seen artistic swimming performed live, so this is a unique opportunity to support our swimmers and gain an introduction to the sport.
For information visit LoneStarSynchro.org.