ANDOVER, MA– Synchronized swimming is one sport in which athletes perform artistic and acrobatic elements in the water to music. The swimmers work together to synchronize their movements and execute them to maximum effect. One of the champions of this sport is Lakshita Motwani of Andover, MA.
“This year, my team earned two silver medals at the US senior nationals in San Antonio, Texas. Also, this year I had the chance to attend my first ever international competition, US Opens,” says Ms. Motwani. “Here, we earned a gold medal in junior tech team and a bronze medal in senior combo, right behind the Japanese and Hungarian national teams.”
Ms. Motwani been competing in national level championships since she was in sixth grade, and has been to ten of championships of this level since.
In an exclusive video interview on Face-to-Face with Upendra Mishra, Ms. Motwani talks about her motivation, challenges and rewards and her future plans.
To watch the full interview, please click here, or on the image below.
At synchronized swimming competitions, athletes are judged on artistic impression, or their ability to tell a story with their routine, execution, or the accuracy with which their movements are carried out, and difficulty, or the content of the routine itself.
“Swimmers perform movements both above and under the water, often upside down and holding their breaths for extended periods of time,” says Ms. Motwani. “They also perform lifts, where they work together to push another athlete out of the water. In synchronized swimming, no athlete ever touches the bottom of the pool, as this is illegal in the rules of the sport. All movements are carried out using body strength.”
Ms. Motwani’s team that she swims for is called ANA Synchro and it is based out of the Andover/North Andover YMCA in Massachusetts.
“I’ve been a part of this team since I was 6 years old, and it has really enabled me to swim at every level I’ve wanted to. It has opportunities for swimmers who choose to do synchro recreationally or competitively.”
Alongside her swimming, Motwani is a tutor at Kumon, where she mentors children in reading and math in order to establish a strong work ethic from a young age. She also volunteers in soup kitchens, sings Christmas carols for the elderly and prepares bagged lunches for the homeless in conjunction with her extracurricular activities and academics.
