Watersports Day

One of the charming aspects of a 98 year old camp is that some of the activities are plucked right out of a bygone era.

Syncronized Swimming is one of those activities. It is not taught at other camps (as far as I know) because it is very difficult to teach and difficult to learn. The moves require significant core body strength and a high level of swimming ability; finding instructors is very difficult (it is an olympic sport but try to find a local syncronized swimming class!), and it requires a very deep and large pool. Program directors would say that there is no burning interest to learn such a sport and the cost, even if a lot of campers wanted to learn, was prohibitive. Well… Syncronized Swimming was a big camp activity 98 years ago and it remains so today.

One hundred eighty campers took syncronized swimming this summer (a record… WOW!). Interest remains high (participation was up 50% this year) and the girls who take it RAVE about how great it is. They enjoy a great work out, learn to “dance” in the water, listen to great music with their friends, and put on one of the best EP’s of the summer!

Tonight’s Water Show will be the capstone of our today’s Watersports schedule (we have competition between the Odds and Evens this morning). This is our last Team event of the summer and is far meant to be less intense than Challenge Day. The girls participate in water themed relay’s and races, and soak up the sun. Good weather is important to the day, so we are grateful for the sunny skies and hot July climate! Lots of sunscreen and water… and we will be ready for Rest Hour this afternoon.

We will file into the Pool Complex (we built in bleachers just for this event) for EP, and watch the diving exhibition as we gather before the show. The music will sound amazing (the sound system was designed and installed by the same group that did Death Valley Stadium at Clemson) and the setting is wonderful. The early evening sun will filter through the large sycamore trees by the lake as it slowly sets behind the mountains. The sky will turn a dozen shades of red before the first star comes out. It will be lovely.

These are the moments that will shine in our memories of camp fifty years from now. We are in a great place and loving every aspect of our time together. Thank you for checking in. The Watershow will be posted on our Livestream this evening around 7:30. It will stay up for 24 hours… a little glimpse into what we love at camp! We also hope to post a video of the event on our Vemeo page (this video will require editing but should provide a better viewing opportunity).

Livestreaming presents difficulties that might well limit future broadcasts. Vemeo is a site that allows us to post video’s, but not do so live. We will let you know of any changes to the livestream program well before the summer…

Weekends see a dramatic drop in blog pageviews (and Saturday is the lowest day by far), so if you are reading this I know you are a fanatic. Thank You!