The competitive program enjoyed two exciting weeks of summer camp. Our athletes had classes in music appreciation, flexibility, Zumba, interpretive dance, dance with a focus on hands and upper body carriage, presentation in the water, ligament routines, stroke correction and more.  

Each class was run by the following special guest coaches:

John Cartin:  John was originally a gymnast who became an accomplished dancer.  He is part of the creation team for Le Reve and Cirque du Soleil.

Robert (Rob) Knowles:  Rob has a main role in “O”  He has danced for many famous dance companies including the Alvin Ailey dance Co.

Bill May: Bill is a longtime member of Santa Clara Artistic Swimming. Aside from many gold medals in national solo and duet competition, Bill holds a gold medal in the first mixed pair international competition of 2015.  He is a pioneer in this event and a special character in Cirque du Soleil’s “O.” Bill has been both US Artistic Swimming formally known as Synchronized Swimming and US Olympic Committee athlete of the year.

Kelly Hilker:  Kelly is a former Santa Clara Artistic Swimming.  Among her other skills, Kelly teaches Zumba classes and is certified in agility training.

Igor Marchenko:  Igor is an accomplished Russian Olympic swimmer who has coached in many countries.  He translated many books from English to Russian, most notably, “Beneath the Surface” the story of Michael Phelps. He worked on stroke correction with the swimmers.

At the end of the two weeks, the swimmer put together two shows illustrating what they learned during the two weeks. The water show called “So you think you can synch?” focused on musical expression in water with program, and the other show “So you think you can dance?” showcased ligament routines and a dance routine choreographed by the swimmers. The best dance routines were rewarded the following awards:  Most Creative, Best Showmanship, Best Use of Music and Best Dance Technique.