GAINESVILLE, FL - Feb. 8, 2007- The Gainesville Gaviatas, a competitive synchronized swim team with members that compete throughout the State of Florida, will sponsor their first regional meet, Synch in the Swamp, on February 10-11 at the University of Florida O'Connell Center, in conjunction with the Gainesville Sports Commission.

Synchronized swim team clubs from Florida will travel to Gainesville to compete in the event; the first of the 2007 Synchronized swim team season. The event will operate under the rules of Florida Synchronized Swimming, Inc. (FSSI), which is a division of United States Synchronized Swimming, INC. There are currently two FSSI divisions that operate in Gainesville; Gator Synchro, the collegiate division that swims at the University of Florida, and the Gainesville Gaviatas, a youth division club that swim at the 300 club.

"This is a great opportunity for our community to host a youth division synchronized swim invitational meet for the first time in Gainesville. This competitive club sport is growing in popularity", points out Jack Hughes, Executive Director of the Gainesville Sports Commission. "Gainesville has been fortunate enough to host two national age group championships for US Synchronized Swimming and one synchro event on the collegiate level; bringing younger athletes from throughout the southeast United States helps position Gainesville to one day again host a national competition at the club level."

Synchronized Swimming has grown dramatically in recent years; 1984 was the first year synchronized swimming was offered as an Olympic competition. The Gainesville Gaviatas are fortunate to have four experienced coaches who competed themselves at the youth level; some of which now compete on the collegiate level.

"These girls practice three times a week, the longest of which is a three and one-half hour practice. The amount of time, self-discipline and dedication that these young athletes commit to their sport will build values work ethics that will stay with them for a lifetime" notes Shauna Dixon, President of the Swim Club. A practice consists of warm-ups on the deck, then conditioning laps to build stamina, and finally, work on perfecting their respective routines for competition. In order to master the sport of synchronized swimming, athletes need several important skills. A good command of basic swimming strokes including crawl, backstroke, breaststroke and sidestroke is necessary as synchronized swimming strokes are variations of each of these.

There are nearly 500 recognized movements, or figures, in the sport of synchronized swimming; swimmers work to master these figures at three levels: novice, intermediate, and age group (advanced). Swimmers compete on teams based on age, and to some degree, ability.

About the Gainesville Gaviatas

Gainesville Gaviatas, Inc. is a competitive synchronized swimming team, begun in 1997 by Mary Pat Stephan and Alison Law. We currently have twenty-eight swimmers ranging in age from 8-18 years of age.

For more information, visit www.gaviatas.org
or contact Shauna Dixon at (352) 336-8769