“Even when you have seen it on television, it is hard to appreciate the full experience of live synchronized swimming. For one thing, the swimmers do everything synchronistically, including walking to the edge of the pool, which they do in an oddly exaggerated way, like mimes in bathing suits. Then, when they get there, they affix their nose plugs and perform short dance routines – this is called deck work – that generally end in a kind of unexpected tableau vivant, with them posing together in an artistic flourish.”