The Andover/North Andover YMCA Synchronized Swim Team (ANA Synchro) is adding to their full time coaching staff. Mikayla Francese will join the team as assistant head coach starting in early August. Francese is herself a former synchronized swimmer and member of the U.S. Olympic Team training squad, having most recently […]
Each week the blog will feature a new ANA coach so everyone will get to know them better. Check it out and learn some FUN FACTS about them. You’ll even read about their greatest achievements and their most embarrassing moments! Week One:  Coach Charlotte Gorski-Bielecki How old were you when […]
Competition season is underway!  But this year, synchronized swimming athletes across the country are practicing more than just figures and routines. They are also practicing skills for Grade Level testing because all 13-15 Age Group and Junior/Senior athletes wishing to compete at the US National Championships in Arizona this April […]
Mary Killman (right) with ANA Synchro Head Coach Leah Pinette 2012 Olympian; four-time USA Synchro Athlete of the Year; three-time U.S. Collegiate National Champion; four-time U.S. National Champion. These are just some of the accolades and achievements earned by Mary Killman, currently a senior at Lindenwood University and captain of […]
Becky Dyroen-Lancer Olympic Gold Medal….World Champion ….International Swimming Hall of Fame Honoree…. These are just some of the amazing accomplishments of Becky Dyroen-Lancer, one of synchronized swimming’s most decorated athletes.  We could easily fill up an entire year’s worth of blog posts conveying all that Becky knows and wants […]
In an earlier blog article, Coach Leah described synchronized swimming figures for us – what they are, their overriding purpose, how they’re scored, and how she manages practicing them with her team. In this follow-up article, Coach Leah reveals her number one suggestion for improving figures:  ANA Synchro Head […]
A synchronized swimming meet will often have two very different parts to it – 1) a lively, loud, and colorful part where the athletes swim in teams to complicated and exciting choreography, and 2) a much slower, quieter part where the athletes, all dressed in black suits and white caps, […]
In  Part 1 of this 2-part article on “Combo” routines, ANA Synchro Head Coach Leah Pinette described for us what a Combo routine is and the choreography challenges and opportunities it presents. She also gave us a glimpse of ANA’s Combined Combo this season with Cambridge Synchro and the North Shore YMCA […]
This year, more clubs, including ANA Synchro, are putting together Combination (aka “Combo”) routines.  USA Synchro has added the event to Junior Olympics and all the way down to our association level meets.  In this first of a 2-part article, ANA Synchro Head Coach Leah Pinette helps us understand Combos: […]
