Most girls fantasize about being ballerinas but the dreams pursued by Jess Hayes-Hill (30) and Laura Strugnell (31) are a slight departure from this, a performance art that also entails being on their tippy toes – but underwater.
They are artistic swimmers, performing a sort of underwater ballet and are currently training daily to be fiddle-fit for next year’s Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
Hayes-Hill, originally from KwaZulu Natal, took a hiatus from the sport while studying to become an occupational therapist, and returned to join Strugnell in fulfilling a dream of competing in the Olympics.
The pair combines dance with their love of water and have pirouetted their way into this graceful sport from the age five and eight.
While Hayes-Hill was in KZN, they trained remotely, using a phone and tripod on the side of the pool until last year when she relocated to Plumstead.
Having trained for more than two decades to perfect this graceful, athletic and demanding sport, the duo recently competed in the World Championships in Japan to secure SA a place in next year’s Olympics.
For boys and girls curious about the sport, Hayes-Hill told People’s Post “what’s so great about artistic swimming is that it combines swimming and gymnastics under water. It requires a love for dancing, water, learning new tricks, and what’s really cool is that we get to hear and listen to music under water.”
But being submerged in water while holding one’s breath and performing this art form “is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. It requires intense focus and concentration.”
As their real hard work now begins they are training to compete in three competitions – locally and internationally – in December, February and March next year.
With their eyes firmly on the Olympics the duo is putting in the hours and, with limited or no funding for smaller sports, they balance their “day jobs” and more than 28 hours of training, in and out of the pool, weekly.
Whenever possible they commute to Johannesburg to train with their head coach, Vicky Drinkwater. In Cape Town they are under the watchful eye of assistant coach Tanya Gist, who ensures their training stays on track. Both coaches sponsor their coaching hours.
“Currently we’re training five hours a day, six days a week,” said Hayes-Hill. “We do an hour of stretching on land and sometimes include strength training, then we move to fitness and our routine in the pool. This includes a lot of mental preparation, including affirmation, too.
“Laura and I still work full-time. So as an occupational therapist I work roughly three to four hours a day. Often I’d go straight from one therapy session with a child to the pool for hours and then hop out the pool, get dressed and go straight back to therapy. This includes full Saturdays of training and a Sunday rest day.”
Artistic swimming, formerly known as water ballet or synchronised swimming, is possibly one of the most deceptive sports. Behind the sequined costumes, smiles and make-up are athletes with incredible stamina, endurance, commitment and technical skill. Routines require swimmers to hold their breath for long periods while treading water, sculling, twisting, pointing their toes, kicking, flipping, doing lifts and splits, mostly while upside down.
During a performance the swimmers complete some gravity-defying moves. Judging criteria means they are not allowed to touch the bottom or sides of the pool, even when lifting each other up and out of the water.
“One of the most commonly asked questions is about holding our breath,” said Hayes-Hill. “Years of swimming pool lengths and doing breathing exercises has helped us build our lung capacity. But due to the physical demands during a routine we usually work on a 20- to 10-second split coming up for a quick breath.”
Part of their weekly training includes a mix of terra-firma cross-training: pilates, weights, strength conditioning, ballet, gymnastics and dance alongside pool time, swimming lengths, while learning and perfecting new techniques.
Said Strugnell: “We feel particularly proud to help create awareness of this sport and it will be fantastic to have SA represented in Paris next year. But, more than that, we want to promote the sport, improve the standard and showcase SA’s talent on the world stage.”
