THE BATTALION Paqe
THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 1978 **
Aggie Aquatians
dance in the water
ALL NIGHT FAIR
THURSDAY JAN. 26
By MARILYNV BROWN
The art of Esther Williams is alive
and well in College Station — at
least for the Texas A&M Aquatians.
If you don’t remember Esther, she
was the prima donna of water ballet
and was Johnny Weissmuller’s lead
ing lady in the ‘40s. Water ballet is
now called synchronized swimming,
and the Aquatians became A&M’s
synchronized swimming club in
1975.
Synchronized swimming is an
aquatic art; much like dance, it ex
presses a mood or an idea through
movement. It is unique in that it
combines the skills and grace of
dance with those of swimming into
choreographies done in the water
and accompanied by music. A
choreography in synchronized
swimming usually consists of a pool-
side routine and stunts done in the
water, along with adapted swim
ming strokes.
Competition in synchronized
swimming exists on a national level,
and it is the only internationally
recognized water sport not included
ATTENTION
STUDENTS:
A hearing will be held on Thurs
day, Jan. 26, 1978, in room 139
of the MSC at 7:30 p.m., to allow
interested students to speak on
student programming at Texas
A&M. The Student Service Fee
Allocation Committee is seeking
student input on levels of funding
to be provided next year in such
areas as intramurals, extramur
als, MSC programming, shuttle
busing, student publications and
athletics.
We’ve Got Your Books!
We stock every book required at Texas
A&M for every course, degree plan &
program.
Undergraduate,
Graduate
Medicine
Vet
Medicine
University Bookstore
“At the North Gate”
OPEN LATE THROUGH JAN. 20
BICYCLE REPAIR SHOP
OPEN HOUSE
THURSDAY, JANUARY 26
7:00-9:00 P.M.
IN THE BICYCLE REPAIR SHOP
(ROOM ADJACENT TO BASEMENT COFFEE HOUSE)
“COME GET ACQUAINTED”
FREE ADVICE CLINIC
COFFEE & DONUTS
PRESENTED BY THE MSC CRAFT SHOP
& THE A&M WHEELMEN
GREAT ISSUES
PRESENTS
Tom McCall
former governor of Oregon
environmentalist
speaking on:
THE FUTURE OF
MAN’S ENVIRONMENT
Rudder Theater - Jan. 26
8:00 p.m.
Students 50c
Others $1.00
in the Olympics. Competition is di
vided into free routines, which em
phasize choreography, and into
stunts, which emphasize exact
execution of the skills. The competi
tion is much like that of figure skat
ing.
The University’s P.E. depart
ment offers synchronized swim
ming, and the Aquatians were
formed from that class in the spring
of 1975. Many of the members are
or were competitive swimmers and
some have dance training as well.
Health and P.E. instructor Pam
Morton, who sponsors the club and
teaches the class, said synchronized
swimming offers a good alternative
to competitive swimming.
“The conditioning and training
are still there,” Morton said. “It
gives the swimmers a chance to see
how creative they can be in aqua
tics. ”
The club formed a team last fall
which made its first public perform
ance at Memphis State University.
The team also performed before a
panel of critics who gave them very
high rating. The team will compete
on the intercollegiate level in the
free routine category. Morton said
the competition is tougher in the
stunt category, but free routines
have more room for creativity.
The Memphis symposium was
open to all club members and those
who went said they learned more in
the two days spent there than they
had in their last two years of prac
tice. They watched the perform
ances of some of synchronized
swimming’s greats, such as Beulah
Gundling, who at age 74 still does
splits in the water as well as more
complicated stunts.
The club has had trouble gaining
membership in both sexes, but
especially with males. The club
presently has two male members
and 23 females. Morton, who
specialized in dance and aquatics at
Middle Tennessee State University,
said she feels that synchronized
swimming is crossing the same har
riers that dance did when the field
was broadening. She said it would
take a while for the guys to catch on.
Males in synchronized swimming
play the masculine role in duets and
in group choreographies, just as in
other stage dances. They are also
needed to do lifts. Paul Linck, who
performed with the team in Mem
phis and who swims for the A&M
swim team said he thinks “most
guys attach a stigma to ‘synchro.’
They don’t really know what’s going
on.”
The Aquatians performed last fall
to the theme songs from popular
movies. The show had its rough
spots, but it pleased the crowds and
was a success for the Aquatians. The
club plans another performance dur
ing the first week of April.
LITTLE PIECES OF
EARTH FOR SALE
BY THE CARAT
Diamonds - Rubies
Sapphires - Emeralds
Nature’s Own Wonders
Carl Bussells
~iamond Room
3731 E. 29th 846-4708
Town & Country Center
) MEMBER AMERICAN GEM SOCIETY
T7 t ? 1111 f t 111 in m ri n r
-
M
WE’VE ADDED
A DAY SHIFT!
Pizza Express is now open for lunch
to give you more of a good thing.
. . . GREAT PIZZA — With ingredients made fresh
daily and piled high enough to please any pizza lover.
. . . FREE DELIVERY — We’ll deliver a piping hot pizza
to your door within 30 minutes.
vn
REVEILLE’S RESTAURANT
Welcome Back Aggies!
AGG.
TEXAS AVE. INN
3-C
BAR-B-Q
REVEILLES
RESTAURANT
Expires Jan. 31, 1978
Located in Culpepper Plaza
(Next to 3-C Bar-B-Q in College Station)
FALL
CLEARANCE SALE
Better make
haste where great
fashions are
1/3 to 1/2 off.
CARNABY
SQUARE ETD.I
Culpepper Plaza
Open 10-6 Mon.-Sat.