A Rancho Cordova-based synchronized swimming team is preparing for its first performance at , but it’s not by choice.
The Cordova Cordettes, a group for ages 5-18, will hold its annual Aqua Show at 6 p.m. Friday at Rosemont High School. The team’s normal pool, the dive pool at Hagan Park in Rancho Cordova, has been closed by a massive water leak.
“It has affected practice time,” parent board secretary Darcey Little said. “Financially, [the Cordettes’ parent board has] had to pay to have the pool heated.”
When the team moved to Rosemont in mid-May, the pool was a chilly 63 degrees, she said, adding that the school district wasn’t willing to pay to have the pool heated for a non-school activity.
Rosemont High School’s pool is also not as deep as the 12-foot dive pool at Hagan Park, requiring some changes in the routines. Synchronized swimmers can never touch the bottom of the pool while performing, Little said.
The Cordettes are also only allowed to use the pool from noon to 8 p.m., and must share it with other groups and activities. At Hagan Park, the Cordettes had free rein of the dive pool and could practice seven hours a day, Little said.
“It makes it difficult for them to have enough time to learn their routines,” she said.
Little also worries about the impact the lack of practice will have on the Cordettes’ performance in the regional synchronized swimming competition, scheduled for July 15 at Citrus Heights’ Rusch Park.
But for now the focus for the swimmers and coach Sara Romano is on next week’s show, an elaborate production the swimmers have been preparing for since April.
“Every [performance] has a different routine and a different costume,” said board president Becky Hicks.
“This is our major event of the year,” Little said. “It’s also a major fundraiser.”
Admission to the event is $6, and gates open at 5:30 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, as seating is limited.
