Edmonton dads dive into synchronized swimming for first time
A group of dads with children attending the Nova Synchro Club in Edmonton wanted to go the extra mile when it comes to supporting their kids.
The men performed a synchronized swimming routine for the first time on Saturday, at the Kinsmen Sports Centre for the club’s 30th anniversary year-end water show.
Kirk Jensen, one of the nine fathers who performed, said he did it to support his daughter.
“My son plays hockey and I can always be involved with him. This is one thing we can do as fathers is support our daughters who do a lot of synchronized swimming, who do such hard work and a lot of training throughout the year,” Jensen said.
The men had three practices to put together a show.
“First time in the pool, I realized it’s not very easy. That’s why we have floaters, otherwise we’d all be drowning,” said Norm Villeneuve, another dad with a son and daughter in the sport.
‘Big thing to have men join’
Claudia Gomez-Villeneuve, a coach at the club, is the person who rallied the team together. Gomez-Villeneuve also coached the men and helped them prepare for the performance.
“I have a son in synchronized swimming and he’s the only boy competing in the whole province of Alberta, so for me it’s a big thing to have men join synchro,” she said.
A group of Manitoba dads also garnered headlines in April when they started the province’s only all-men synchronized swimming team to raise money for their daughters’ club.
“I want men to say synchro is hard because us women have been doing synchro for a hundred years. They think it’s just swimming and no, it’s actually gymnastics, swimming, acrobatics, weightlifting,” said Gomez-Villeneuve.