Dive into the rhythmic world Cal High senior Maren Lee lives in, where the pool becomes a canvas for her artistic swimming.
Underneath the splashes and whirls, there is a challenge and dedication to the elegance of synchronization underwater.
Artistic swimming is a captivating Olympic sport that shows athleticism, artistry and teamwork in the water.
Lee started artistic swimming in seventh grade after her mother stumbled upon an advertisement for it, and eventually it evolved to a sport she grew to love.
“It’s a very hard sport and underrated,” Lee said.
There are moments when she contemplates whether the extensive work and time dedicated to the sport are worth it though.
Swimming for four hours a day, five to six days a week to practice takes a huge amount of her time.
Lee’s mother, Beryl Lee, also spends around three to four hours every week volunteering at fundraising events and competition events.
“It is a major family commitment,” Beryl Lee said, “but we all enjoy doing it to support her.”
Lee said artistic swimming combines dance, cheer leading, gymnastics, swimming, and a little bit of water polo, which is why the sport is far from easy.
But Lee had prior knowledge of dancing and swimming, so it was easier for her to adapt to artistic swimming since she possessed the strength and flexibility needed.
Lee swims with the club Walnut Creek Aquanauts and is trained to use both her mind and body in the pool.
Her team competes in the USA Artistic Swimming Championship annually, and the team has consistently placed among the top three spots.
Lee’s team earned bronze at the 2021 USA Artistic Swimming Junior Olympics Championship in Colorado.
Throughout the year there are around 20 competitions and performances.
“The atmosphere is super competitive and the coaches are always on you and always yelling at you,” Lee said.
During competitions it’s not always so rigorous because she made great friends along the way. Lee and her teammate, Jerusalem Temple, who’ve known each other for three years, became really good friends because of artistic swimming.
“Maren’s personality also brings me so much joy,” Temple said. “I love seeing her walk into practice, being partners with her, talking and just being around her.”
Temple said Lee’s qualities are motivation, great teamwork, and being able to balance school work and activities.
“Maren brings the team together,” Temple said.
Lee has been described as very hardworking by her other teammate Amber Liu.
Liu sees Lee as a sister because of memories, such as living with her for one summer while training for the Junior Olympics.
“It’s always fun to be around each other,” Liu said. “Maren always pushes me to be better in and outside of the pool.”
In addition, her mother admires Lee’s will to win and self drivenness she pours into each competition.
“She doesn’t give up and is always determined to set the next goal and try her best.” Beryl Lee said. “She learned so much being an athlete: time management, teamwork, determination to win, and how to deal with setbacks.”
For people who don’t understand artistic swimming Lee finds it difficult to convey how intense artistic swimming can be because it often gets overlooked and referred to as water ballet.
From the mental aspect Lee said it is all in her head whether she can overcome that boundary.
“In the moment you need to push yourself and tell yourself there is a way,” Lee said.
Then from a physical perspective Lee said artistic swimming is one of the more difficult sports because of the high intensity and the task of treading water.
In the future, Lee sees herself possibly participating in college clubs that are less competitive, but she does not see herself competing in the Olympics.
Even though this sport is a huge commitment and time consuming she enjoys it and misses it when she is not doing it.
“In the end having a team and going without synchro I always want to go back,” Lee said.
