City of Leeds set synchro world record

This week, three synchronised swimmers from City of Leeds embarked on a challenge to set a synchro world record, with the fastest five rotations of a three person dolphin.

The three person dolphin involves three swimmers, linked feet to neck, in an underwater human wheel and required a high level of fitness and strength.

The three girls, Rebecca Richardson, Greta Hampson and Rachel Lee trained together for around six weeks in preparation for the world record attempt, a record which has never been done before.

All three girls are involved in synchronised swimming at the highest level, with Rachel previously being part of the England Talent Age Group Squad, and Becky and Greta, who still train as part of the squad now.

Synchro world record attempt

The three person dolphin requires the swimmers to remain connected to each other feet to neck for the duration of the rotation. For the girls to compete the record they needed to make sure that they were in contact with one another for all five rotations. They also needed to complete the rotations in less than 40 seconds.

The girls had less than a second per rotation to take a breath. This meant they had to make sure that everything was timed perfectly. They completed the five rotations in an impressive 23.51 seconds to set a first synchro world record for the fastest time to complete five rotations of a three person dolphin.

City of Leeds Synchronised Swimming Coach commented, “The girls are thrilled to have achieved a world record. The three person dolphin requires a lot of teamwork as well as incredible strength and fitness.

“It is a move which looks very elegant in the water, but it is tricky to hold formation, especially at the speed that they needed to do it, and the number of rotation.”

• You can watch the Officially Amazing episode featuring the synchro world record on BBC iPlayer.