Synchro World Championships 2013, Boston - "Why Not Synchro?"
We've missed amazing opportunities to showcase the sport, first in Vancouver 2010, where we could have had NEXXICE, Canada's premier team (fresh off their 2009 World Championship), perform an exhibition, and now here in Sochi, where the Russian Team Paradise, another perennial top 5 international team, could have performed (and maybe, hopefully, I will be surprised to find that they are involved here at some point).
Canada's NEXXICE (Winterfest 2014, Mississauga)
There has obviously been interest, in the Synchro community, for having Synchronized Skating become an Olympic event. One of the criteria is that the sport must have held sanctioned World Championship events for at least 10 years. Synchronized Skating is governed by the ISU (International Skating Union), and has held World Championships since the year 2000).
Russia's Team Paradise (Synchrofest 2011, London, ON)
Another criteria is that there are enough countries with competitive teams. To date, the sport has been dominated by five countries: Finland, Sweden, Canada, the USA, and Russia, with Finland and Sweden winning every World Championship, except for NEXXICE from Canada in 2009.
Should Synchro be in the Olympics?
The campaign to get Synchro into the Olympics is growing. I first became aware of the "Why Not Synchro" movement back at the World Championships in Boston last year, when a lone woman stood in the stands holding the placard shown in the first photo above (I put that photo first so that it would show up on my Facebook page and my @_SeanMcKinnon_ Twitter feed).
I don't know who this young lady is, but it seems she's started something that is becoming unstoppable! The #WhyNotSynchro2018 campaign on Twitter is going strong, and exploded in late January at the Mozart Cup in Austria, where all participants came together on the ice at the medals ceremony to form a set of Olympic rings:
Mozart Cup, January 2014, Salzburg, Austria - #WhyNotSyncro2018?
With the assistance of live stream commentator, Ryan, from @_On_The_Rocks, a simultaneous twitter storm of #WhyNotSynchro2018 was created, generating thousands of tweets.
We can only hope that we are being heard, and that the IOC, the ISU, and national Figure Skating organizations such as Skate Canada and US Figure Skating are listening and working to get Synchronized Skating into the Olympics for 2018!
Updated:
Please visit Get It Called for more information on #WhyNotSynchro2018.
and
Sign the petition now at over 12,000 signatures in just over one week (as at Feb 16, 2014).
(Disclaimer: My daughter, Caitlin, joined NEXXICE this season, and we obviously would love to see Synchro in the Olympics, and for her to have that opportunity, and hopefully for me to still be able to be working at the Olympics and to be there to see it).
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeleteI knew you'd find something useful to do in Sochi when you're not working. I expect by the end of the Olympics you'll have a commitment from the IOC for Syncro to be a 2018 event and a commitment from NBC to televise Synco in Prime Time every day and night of the 2018 Olympic broadcast. Or else their panels might not work so well (make 'em an offer they can't refuse).
Andy
Well, it worked for Curling in Salt Lake... Remember MSNBC stood for Must Show Nothing But Curling!
DeleteIt's all quite easy. Syncronized Skating can simply replace Women's hockey when it is eliminated as a Olympic sport (and it will be) after Canada and the USA fight it out again for the gold medal, leaving the scraps (bronze) for the rest of the world. This will also quiet the critics who say the IOC cannot afford to build addtional accommodations for synchro at the games - the skater would simply use the rooms vacated by the departing women's hockey players. mt
DeleteSomehow I don't see Women's Hockey being eliminated, although it happened to Women's Softball because the US won every Gold medal while it was in the Olympics (until the last one, ironically). I really hope they don't eliminate Women's Hockey, as I really admire the dedication and skill of our athletes. In Salt Lake City, my hotel was the backdrop to the medals plaza, and I happened to walk by as our Women's team piled into the streets after receiving their gold medals. They were so great to be around, I talked to several of them, and they let me hold the Gold mdeal. Teams from Finland and China are becoming more competitive, so I hope it stays in, but I also hold out hope that we will see Synchro in place for 2018 (and I wouldn't mind if it replaced the Team Event they have now).
DeleteThank you Sean, great article. One quick correction: Mozart Cup takes place in Salzburg, Austria, not Vienna. Thanks again - wishing you much success in Sochi. #WhyNotSynchro2018 #IKnowHashTagsAreOfNoUseInThisComment
ReplyDeleteOf course, you are right! My daughter was there with NEXXICE and I watched the whole thing on Live Stream. NEXXICE did their training in Vienna, before moving on to Salzburg for the competition. My apologies, I will correct the article!
DeleteNo worries, thanks for writing it 8-).
DeleteLoving all the blog posts, Sean! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Synchro in 2018, and I think, if not 2018, 2022 will be the year! If synchronized swimming is an Olympic sport, synchronized skating should also be included!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Danielle! 2022 might be too late for Caitie (at least I hope I'm not still paying for Synchro when she is 26!), but I too have my fingers crossed for 2018!
DeleteSean,
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the best articles I have recently read on Synchronized Skating and the future of the Olympics.
I am the woman in the photo from 2013 Worlds. Every time I see this photo re-posted, it warms my heart and continues to give me hope that this sport can be part of the Winter Olympic Games. I joke with my friends now, that I am the face of "WhyNotSynchro" but at the time I made the poster, I had no idea how it would be received.
I encourage everyone to have a voice in this effort. At the same time, let our words be strong, and let them show the grace and elegance that is evidenced in this truly wonderful sport. Please everyone... keep it #SynchroStrong. #WhyNotSynchro???
Wow! An honour to hear from you, and thank you for your comments on my article. I was actually following your Tweets from the French Cup when the Junior Short program wasn't on the Live Feed. Thanks for that! You have certainly become an icon for the #WhyNotSynchro movement. How cool that you will have that fame forever!
DeleteWill you be in Italy for Worlds this year? I will be there with NEXXICE. Should be fantastic! Cheers - Sean
I will be at the Junior World Challenge Cup in Switzerland. My poster will travel with me, as it did for USA's Junior World Qualifiers and for the French Cup. As much as I want to be in Italy, I am not sure I can afford to add that trip to my schedule!
ReplyDeleteHopefully others will carry the message forward to Italy!
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeleteI am the Coach of Team GB, who will be representing Great Britain at this years 2014 World Synchronized Skating Championships. Its taken us 5 years to be selected and I cant even begin to tell you how excited and honoured myself, skaters and the families are. Forming a synchronized skating team of this standard in Great Britain is no easy task, I get just ONE HOUR A WEEK of on ice time with them, this is due to ice time limitations and as always Ice Hockey taking precident. My skaters live all over the country and have to travel to training, and I honestly think that if we were lucky enough to get Synchro into the Olympics it would go along way to getting the recognition and support that us coaches,teams and long suffering supporters deserve.
I have taught many disciplines of ice skating and synchronzed skating is by far the most rewarding as a coach. It teaches so much more than on ice skill, it teaches life skills, TEAM SPORT TO THE MAX.
This blog is fantastic, thank you for allowing me to have yet another chance to rant and rave about my passion, and thanks to the wonderful lady who started WHYNOTSYNCHRO2018.
Myself and TEAM GB are very much looking forward to meeting you all in the Worlds this April, where we can have yet another oppurtunity to show the world the amazing life of SYNCHRO.
Much Love
Kat.xx
Hi Kat! So great to hear from Team GB! Looking forward to seeing you and Team GB in Italy - come find me and say hello, I'll be with NEXXICE. I've been involved with Synchro through my daughter for 10 years, and am an avid photographer and fan of the sport. I would love to see it in the Olympics, and am thrilled at the attention we are getting online. This page has had over 2000 hits since yesterday! Amazing. All the best - Sean
DeleteMost involved with synchro ignore, or don't want to hear why Synchro will never be in the Olympics. The teams are too large and they only compete for a short time (7 minutes per team). Synchro competitions are necessarily huge but the amount each athlete competes is small. It made more sense to create a team competition with the skaters already in Sochi than to double (minimally) the figure skaters at the Olympics. The Olympics are expensive to stage so you want the most high quality programming you can get at the smallest cost (minimal in terms of capital investment and athletes needed). It is far more cost effective to optimize the use of the athletes and facilities already there than to add an entire new sport that requires added skating facilities and only gives you a small amount of programming. The figure skating quota is 148 athletes. From that comes all of the many days of figure skating excitement produced at the Games. In contrast, 148 synchro skaters is only 9 teams delivering about one hour of programming. Synchro also lacks stars to help promote viewership and attract fans. The action of synchro will not attract the fans by itself or we would have seen the viewership of synchro grow in the last 20 years. I don't believe it has. The internet and social media just make synchro advocates louder and more visible. If I was running the Olympics and worried about the cost side and revenue side of the Games, Synchro would be the last sport I would add. This is not because I do not like synchro. I just find if my family members are not skating on a team, I have minimal interest. I have a much deeper fundamental interest in the 4 Olympic disciplines whether or not I have a personal connection. I like to use Facebook as a proxy for relative popularity. The top synchro teams have about 3000 Facebook fans. Johnny Weir has 80,000 and Kim Yuna has 1.3 million. 3000 Facebook fans for a top senior team supports my assertion that Synchro has minimal fans beyond the participants and their immediate families.
ReplyDeleteWe're not ignoring, or uninterested in hearing, any point of view, even if we disagree with it. You identified some obvious obstacles to the inclusion of Synchro in the Olympics. That doesn't mean that proponents of the sport shouldn't advocate for its inclusion.
DeleteSadly, since the Olympics (and most things on TV) are really just about money, you are probably correct. This of course is at odds with the original intentions of the Olympic Movement ("Calling on the youth of the world to converge....").
However, the Team event in Figure Skating is redundant and I hope that viewers and governing bodies will ultimately reject this, and we offer Synchro as an alternative.
No one is suggesting that we have 20 Synchro teams at the Olympics. Even Women's Hockey has only 8 teams in Sochi. Women's Hockey is, I believe, in danger, because it is not competitive.
You argue that we only compete for a short time, and the teams are too large, but Synchronized Swimming has a team event that has overcome the same obstacles.
How many Synchronized Swimming stars do you know? How often do you see it on TV? Synchronized Skating is in a similar position. We believe the sport would be more popular if it received more TV coverage. It is a chicken and egg scenario.
As for stars, there are well known skaters, such as Lee Chandler from NEXXICE, and Jenna Longo from the Haydenettes, and others. I am sure that the Finnish and Swedish skaters are well known in Europe (we just don't get to see them often enough in North America).
The internet and social media provide an opportunity for lobby groups of all types, you cannot fault us for trying to call attention to a sport that we love.
If you were to judge all sports by the level of interest they generate, we could purge the Olympics of a large number of events, that I would be willing to bet are watched far less than Synchro would be.
The fact that you aren't interested in Synchro when you don't have a family member skating is irrelevant. There is a large community of people who are interested, and they are advocating for the inclusion of a sport they love.
Comparing Facebook likes for Synchro teams with Johnny Weir and Yuna Kim is ridiculous. They both have had the opportunity to compete at the Olympics and have hundreds or thousands of hours of media coverage and sponsors behind them.
Add Synchronized Skating to the Olympics, and then see how many free skaters decide to try Synchro and how much media coverage is generated then.
I don't want to keep coming back to Synchronized Swimming, but it is the closest parallel, and how many Synchronized Swimming clubs have 3000 fans on Facebook? It is not a metric worth talking about.
The challenges facing Synchronized Skating are not trivial, and yes, money and the size of the teams is a big issue, but we also face the problem of education and promotion, to get people to see and understand the sport.
You can't make a blanket statement that Synchro has minimal fans beyond the participants and their immediate families when the truth is that most people have not even heard of synchronized skating, and don't even know whether they would like it or not because they've never had the opportunity to see it.
That is one of the issues we are trying to address by promoting #WhyNotSynchro2018 - getting some attention, and getting people to watch, and grow to love the support. If we can build a fan base, and generate interest, and garner the support of the governing bodies, then we will have a chance at getting Synchro into the Olympics, if not in 2018, then at some point in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to make your point heard!
Well Sean.... I'd say this is going down as your most popular Olympic blog to date.....and you've had some good ones! Keep the stories coming....
ReplyDeleteNo question, this is my most popular post ever! Thanks!
DeleteWe have far too many free skaters trying it in our town. Its killing free skating. The local synchro teams recruit low level skaters as young as 5 and these kids can't even skate. Moms aren't going to spend much extra time at the rink for a 5-yr-old so the only other time they spend skating is group lessons and the occasional public session with "friends". Their progression is stunted. Most become afraid to have their feet leave the ice. The synchro coaches push them into doing Moves in the Field tests and they never properly learn to do a jump or spin. Most of them never do a free skate test. After a few years of this, any synchro child who steps out of the box and does try to jump or spin gets teased, even bullied. If they leave the team, the other moms and kids ostracize them. I've seen it over and over again. They skate for years and the only thing they have to show for it is some edgework and a lunge or spiral. How many great free skaters have we lost because they got roped in to doing synchro at such a young age. These kids didn't stand a chance to even find out if they could have been successful at another discipline because synchro sucked them up and spit them out. So, if this is the way Synchro operates everywhere, it needs a slap down, not an Olympic event.
ReplyDeleteLet's start with this: 5-year olds are not "free skaters", any more than they are "synchro skaters", "ice dancers", "speed skaters", or "hockey players". They are learning how to skate, and finding out what they like, and what they might be good at. To say Synchro is stealing Free skaters is like saying snowboarding is stealing alpine skiers, it's not relevant, they are different disciplines within the same sport.
DeleteI'm sorry you seem to have had a bad experience with Sycnhro. However, I would suggest that the problem lies with your club, and/or your coaches, rather than with the sport. At our home club, kids must be enrolled in singles skating in order to be on a synchro team. Kids don't typically join a synchro team until well after they have completed CanSkate and have entered the phase where they take on private coaches for free skating, skills, and dance.
I don't think 5-year olds should be doing synchro unless they have already demonstrated the necessary skating skills. And I don't buy your argument about time. Most Beginner Sycnhro teams practice at most 1-2 hours per week, it is really just to give them a taste of the sport.
There are coaches of all kinds (not just synchro) who will push kids into testing anything before they are ready. This can allow kids to move on before they have mastered the skills expected at that level. However, this is the fault of the coaches (or often as not, pushy parents), and not the sport.
Clearly you have never been involved with a competitive level Synchro team. Most members come from the competitive freeskate or dance stream, and have been some of the best skaters in their local clubs. They all have learned how to skate, and have a lot more than "some edgework and a lunge or spiral" to show for it. In fact, I wonder how much elite level synchro you have even watched?
My daughter has been skating for 11 years, and done synchro for 9 of them. She skated freeskate with her local club, 5 days a week for years, in addition to doing synchro, and now practices, on-ice a minimum of 14 hours a week for synchro - and she is STILL working on skills and Diamond dances with her local club.
She has her Gold Skills, Gold Interpretive, all the Gold Dances, and three Diamond Dances. She was a promising jumper too, and won several local freeskate competitions at the Preliminary level. She was capable of landing 3 different doubles, but decided that she wanted to concentrate on synchro about 5 years ago.
Not everyone wants to be a jumper, and figure skating is about more than jumps. Should we remove Ice Dance from the Olympics? There's no jumping there. I can't tell you how frustrated I get watching free skating events that feature skaters who go from jump to jump but have no emotion, no transition skills, no edge work, and can barely spin.
Synchro appeals to different people, and offers experiences that freeskating doesn't. All you need to do is talk to a synchro skater to see the passion and enthusiasm they have for the sport, and how it has changed their lives.
Again, I'm sorry your experience with Synchro has not been more positive, but I can assure you that for most involved in the sport, the experience has been entirely rewarding.
I haven't watch Synchro skating since my daughter left Bowling Green State University's team, but I sure would if it was available to watch! I'll bet there are many former Synchro skaters and their families that would be eager fans if the sport had some visibility.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, exactly. There is almost no coverage of synchro on TV. #WhyNotSynchro2018 is trying to get some attention for the sport. And, I'd hope it would be more than just former skaters and families that would watch. If we can't draw fans who haven't skated, then it won't stay on TV.
DeleteSean, your blog is wonderful, enlightening and thought-provoking. Yes would love to be able to see Syncro skating at the Olympics and on TV regularly....such a wonderful sport.
ReplyDeleteThanks Annette! Wouldn't that be wonderful!
DeleteI have been away for a few days but wanted to get back to this discussion.
ReplyDeleteSynchro WAS on TV for a number of years in the US on ESPN for one year and on Lifetime for several years. Lifetime showed an hour of US Nationals (top 5 Senior teams) and Worlds. However, once the contract ran out, Lifetime did not renew. Haydenettes have been on the Today Show multiple times. I believe you can find clips on Youtube or elsewhere on the web. I have been involved since 1996 and arguing that the Olympics is impossible (for the logistics reasons stated in my previous post) since approximately 2000 when I heard in Colorado Springs that Synchro would be in the 2002 Olympics. Now we have IceNetwork for Synchro and all of the rest of the figure skating disciplines in the US and most of the Grand Prix events. If you want figure skating coverage, you can pay a nominal sum for Ice Network and watch it (my family does). ESPN covers what it knows people will watch.
The Synchronized swimming argument on the surface is a good one. I really don't find it appealing but it is in the "Summer" Olympics which has 11000 athletes and is 4X the size of the Winter Games. Sync Swimming teams (SS) consist of 8 swimmers and one alternate. The Olympics involves the champion SS team from each of the 5 continents and 3 wild card teams. There are also 16 duets bringing the total SS athletes at the Games to 104. SS evolved to teams from single and pair SS. Singles were eliminated and pairs and team are what exists today.
Figure skating has viable single and pairs and four strong disciplines involving 148 participants balanced for men and women. The Team event utilizes these same athletes, many of whom are icons with huge fan bases, allowing them a second chance at an Olympic medal and a second chance of TV exposure. The Team event in reality added NO cost to the Olympics yet allowed three more nights of compelling TV coverage. Now Julia Lipnitskaya and Gracie Gold have been introduced to the World. We have also had a reasonable preview of a subset of the competition in the four disciplines. All of the medalists in this event can now call themselves Olympic Medalists. Even the choking dog, Jeremy Abbott (who was wonderful at US Nats) is an Olympic bronze medalist. Julia is already a Gold Medalist. This is all good for promoting skating in the future and growing the large existing (but declining) fan base for the four Olympic disciplines. A total win for the ISU, USFS, and their Canadian and Russian counterparts.
Thanks for coming back. I'm at the end of a 12 hour shift, and have been getting by on 5-6 hours sleep for over a week, so I'm not really prepared to respond right now. However, I wanted to get your posts published so that you didn't think I was holding back. I'll attempt to respond tomorrow.
Delete(cont).
ReplyDeleteYou can ridicule my use of facebook numbers, but Haydenettes have been around for 30 years and have had a large number of skaters and their families go through the program. The greater Boston area is several million people and Lexington, MA is a large town. Haydenettes come from all over the country to skate on the team. They are covered quite well and given many opportunities to promote synchro (Today Show, opening rinks in NYC for the season, skating in the exhibition at US Nats right before the intermission). To have around 3000 Facebook likes tells you a great deal. Marigold in the Finnish synchro hot bed with all of its excellence and long history has 3000 facebook likes. Team Surprise, the most decorated team in synchro history, has around 2000 facebook likes. You can disagree, but this tells me that the finest synchro teams in the world with very long histories and substantial media coverage cannot attract fans beyond the participants and their immediate (not extended) families.
On Synchroboards we debated this often. It was argued that Olympic recognition was needed for the growth of Synchro. I argue that Worlds is the vehicle to promote synchro. If Worlds becomes huge and gets coverage, Olympics MIGHT come, but I doubt it. The financial aspects of adding Synchro to the Olympics just scream never to me.
Hockey teams are large, but play each other head-to-head. Eight teams playing a round robin tournament give you many hours of televisable and attendable games. Synchro just does not fit that model. Women's hockey has the advantage of head-to-head competition. I would bet the Women's gold medal game and any other Canada-US game will be several hours of compelling programming and a packed house. I really don't think an 8 team synchro competition is anywhere near as compelling as an 8 team hockey round robin tournament. An 8 team synchro competition would also involve 128 skaters (not counting alternates). You would also have the coaches and an extra set of officials. This would all be done for less than ONE HOUR of televisable and viewable programming. Tell me that is worth the effort of the LOC.
OK, I'm back. I really want to keep this short. I'm trying to enjoy my time in Sochi, and I work 12 hours a day, and don't have the time to craft the kind of response that would address all of your counter points, and that would probably only serve to generate additional back-and-forths. We can continue this in detail when I get home, if you are interested.
DeleteIn the meantime, lets say that I think we are not arguing about the same points. Your main point seems to be that Synchro will never be in the Olympics, primarily because of logistical (read: money) issues, with a secondary emphasis on the lack of popularity of the sport.
You may be right on the first point. My response is that it is disappointing, and counter to the Olympic ideal, that everything should be motivated by TV ratings and money, but that is the world in which we live.
With regard to popularity, there are plenty of Olympic sports that I'm sure have near zero TV ratings, and even fewer fans than Synchro. I'm not arguing that Synchro WILL be in the Olympics, just suggesting that it SHOULD be in the Olympics.
I suspect that you are a Synchro fan (based on your Tweet history), but are simply trying to be pragmatic about this issue. I respect that, however, I think that it is entirely reasonable for an enthusiastic community to advocate on behalf of a sport they love.
I am not the voice of #WhyNotSynchro2018, I am simply keeping a blog of my time in Sochi for the entertainment of my friends and family, and am actually pretty surprised at how much attention this post has received (now at over 3500 page views).
However, I am a fan of Synchro, and would love to see it in the Olympics, especially if it could occur by 2018 where my daughter might have a chance to be an Olympian.
As such, I support #WhyNotSynchro2018 (or 2022, or however long it takes). We may not achieve anything, but if we do nothing, there is 100% certainty to fail.
Thanks again for your contributions to this discussion!
Oh god, that first paragraph is a terrible run-on sentence, sorry about that. Tired...
DeleteHey, I'm from Quebec (so I apologize right now for my english). I've just made a facebook page called "Why Not Synchro?". I would like to know if I could use your article. I want people to recognize synchronized skating as an Olympic sport.
ReplyDeleteSure, you can link to my blog, that would be great, thanks! Be sure to also see: http://www.getitcalled.com/whynotsynchro/ and http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/olympics/wp/2014/02/10/team-figure-skating-needs-to-be-eliminated/
DeleteIf you think of the huge sum of money, which has been used for these olympics in Sochi, the expences cannot be as the reason why synchro couldun´t be in olympics. It is a question of the will.
ReplyDeleteFrench Cup every year... Helsinki 2011... the great atmosphere in the audience!!! Synchro funs can defenetly make it! So Why Not Olympics! Anyone who has experienced it knows what I mean.
ReplyDelete