Totally in Sync: Aimee Ascenscio, Mara Bender and Melissa Freed on McGill’s Superstar Synchro Team

This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing not one, not two, but three of McGill’s Expert Synchronized Swimming team members. It would be impossible to capture the depth of this team’s love for one another, or the palpable strength they are all capable of when they work together, by interviewing just one of their many essential players. So, in the spirit of sportswomanship, I refuse to. Here representing my own team, Her Campus McGill, I sit down with Aimee Ascenscio, Mara Bender and Melissa Freed, who seem to be completely in sync with each other (pun intended) both in and out of McGill’s pool. 

Melissa, a U1 Arts student with a major in Mathematics and a minor in Economics, shared with me her first experience with synchronized swimming and her clear knack for the sport. “In seventh grade, I noticed an advertisement for a free try-it day with my local pool’s synchronized swimming team. Not knowing anything about the sport, I said why not? and went for it. As a child who had never been good at any sports before, I was excited by how quickly I was able to learn the basic positions and techniques, and convinced my parents to let me join the team. Since then my appreciation for the sport has of course increased a lot – I love the artistic aspect of it, the integration of music, that it’s extremely strenuous, and simply that there’s always a way to improve at it. I love challenging myself to be better – to kick faster, to press higher, to look, feel and be stronger in and out of the pool. That’s what the sport is all about.”

Like Melissa, I myself can definitely relate to not being gifted in the athletics department, but (unlike me) she has proven herself to be an integral member of the McGill synchro team. Teammates and team bonding – according to Aimee, a fourth year software engineering student – are some of the most important aspects of becoming a cohesive and competitive athletics group. “The best thing about synchro, and the thing I will probably miss the most, is your team, and the unique bond you form with each one of your teammates. We go through practice together, we support and we encourage each other towards success.” Co-captain Mara, a fourth year ArtsSci student studying Physics and English, couldn’t agree more. “I’ve found my team is a really good source of motivation; talking to them makes me want to do better. My team is a constant source of support and inspiration for me; they really are some of my very best friends. They have supported me in my hard times, laughed with me in the best of them and inspired me to achieve more inside and out of the pool. I am so grateful for them, they really and truly have been my family while I’ve been living in Montreal.” Not only is synchro a fantastic workout, but it is also an exercise in emotional support and trust building. “We need to be able to trust each other – if one person doesn’t push as hard as they normally do in a throw, if one person doesn’t get to their normal pattern spot on time, it’s not just an issue of routines looking bad,” Melissa confides to me. “In our sport, that’s how people get seriously hurt – concussions, broken bones, torn muscles. Unfortunately, all those things happen anyway. But injuries are minimized by consistency, and we can’t swim our positions consistently if we can’t anticipate each other’s movements and trust every other team member to do the same.” Like all relationships, trust is an integral aspect that dictates the strength of one’s connection, and in synchro, it could mean the difference between a spot-on pattern and some broken bones. 

Some of the hard times that Melissa alluded to earlier include time management, which, understandably, becomes all the more difficult when you are not only a student at a competitive university with a demanding workload, but an expert-level athlete as well. However, Melissa has learned to adapt to a full schedule much like her body and breathing has adapted to extensive time spent in the pool. “I look to make the most of the days that I don’t train – just going home and frontloading as much of my schoolwork as possible. Planning helps a lot – I keep a calendar of deadlines and competition dates next to my bed, so I always have a good idea of how much time I really have. I also try to keep a consistent schedule – there’s a window of time right before dinner that I always dedicate to homework.” As a mindful athlete, Melissa’s health and eating habits are also a top priority. “The biggest factor for me in keeping up [with school and sports], though, is prioritizing my health. If I don’t eat well or get enough sleep – although this can be very difficult around exam time – it’s so much harder for me to be efficient during the day.”

On the other hand, Mara talks to me about the very real struggles of balancing school, social life and sport – which, even as a non-athlete, I can sympathize with. “I’ve had a hard time balancing athletics and school, personally. For me, academics really came down to forgoing a lot of my social life. I’m either holed up studying, or at the pool.” Despite the sacrifices these young women have had to make in order to excel in their work and passion, Mara definitely feels that one benefit of her busy schedule is feeling more connected to the McGill Athletics community, as well as the school itself. “A lot of my friend have felt disconnected from the school. I credit my attachment to McGill entirely to the athletics programs, they’ve allowed me to get involved and really feel like part of the school.” Melissa feels the same way about the strong sense of community that naturally builds with intimate bonds and shared experiences. “I love being part of the team. It doesn’t earn much visibility outside of the McGill Athletics community, but there are so many internal benefits. You can definitely describe [the synchro team] as “family” – we’re all very comfortable with each other, and it’s comforting to know that no matter what I’m struggling with, there’s a group I could talk about it to.” As a seasoned athlete and fourth year student, Aimee has some comforting words of wisdom with regards to managing your time and interests. “Being busy helps me stay on track, because I know there is no time to waste. I believe that there is always time to do the things you love. And even when you think there might be no time for anything else, you can always squeeze things in there. It is all about prioritizing the things that you value the most.“

As both an athletic and artistic outlet, synchro can also work as a stress-reliever rather than a stress creator for these athletes. Aimee says that unwinding from long days in lectures and nights spent studying at the library “is one of the main reasons [she] keeps practicing the sport. Synchro is a great way to put your brain at work on something else, to forget about school and all the assignments and midterms you have, and just focus on swimming your best.” Though she may be alone in this opinion, Melissa actually looks forward to Sunday’s 7 am practices. “I actually like morning training. If not for practice, I’d be asleep until the time I get home from swim anyway – and the exercise helps me wake up and feel more alert for the rest of the day.” When asked about those dreaded Sunday practices, Aimee couldn’t disagree more. “Sunday mornings at 7 am are very hard.” Enough said. 

Not only does swimming keep them wide awake and in peak beast mode, but Mara also claims that it actually helps her to be more productive and proactive. “I’ve found athletics have really helped me stay focused in my past two years at McGill. I’ve had to really prioritize myself and my own needs, which is something that I’ve really struggled with before. I don’t have time to make everyone else happy anymore, because I’m so focused on doing my own things that make me happy.” The team-love and self-love is really real for these girls. 

With hundreds (perhaps thousands?) of hours spent practising and competing together, the synchro team has no shortage of touching memories, and Mara shares one of her favourites with me now. “The 2017 National Championship has probably been my best memory so far. I’m a graduating athlete, so the whole thing was pretty emotional. Because Nationals were held in Montreal, it was even more so. We managed to get Sylvie Flechette to come in and watch us during the team event, but she also gave us a pep talk before hand, during which all the graduating athletes started crying. But even better was walking off after our final swim. My co-captain and I are both graduating, so we immediately broke down in tears. The rest of the girls engulfed us in a huge group hug. I have never felt so loved, so ecstatic and so happy to be surrounded by smart, strong and courageous women in my life.” 

When it comes to advice for incoming McGill freshmen or Athletics newcomers, the girls speak from the heart, and from experience. Mara is the first to advocate for putting yourself – and your studies – first. “I definitely lost focus of academics at the beginning of university, so I would 100% warn student athletes of that. It’s really easy to forget why you’re at McGill, but academics really should be a top priority. It’s really important to learn to say no, especially when you really need to be studying or sleeping before an early morning practice.” For Aimee, approaching new situations with a strong sense of what you hope to achieve is a crucial way to ensure your aspirations remain a central part of your university experience. “Have a clear idea of the university [experience] you want to have. There are so many clubs and teams that you can join at McGill, and these will shape what your next four years will be like. If it is something that you want to accomplish and something that you really love, you will be able to both find and make the time for it.” As for something to look forward to, if you are about to become part of a McGill team sport, Melissa insists the community aspect is a definite plus. “You will be guaranteed a group of individuals who will respect and support you. Whatever classes you’re taking, whatever situation you’re struggling with, someone on the team will have been there before. You’ll never truly be facing university life alone.” 

So whether your team is your friends, your family, or your fellow sports mates, Melissa, Aimee and Mara implore you to have someone to lean on like they do in synchro: in and out of the pool, in and out of the classroom, and in the good times and the bad. 

P.S.

Be sure to check out the Synchro Water Show this Tuesday, March 7th at 8pm! Find more details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/101168590414606/

All photos obtained from interviewees. 

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