Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

Coming off a fourth place finish at state, there is no reason to believe the 2007 model of the synchronized swim team will be treading water in the shallow end of the talent pool. Absolutely every key member is back this season, which means the Rangers will once again compete with the top programs in Minnesota.

The duet pairing of seniors Carrie Peterson and Alissa Moberg will look to build on their seventh place finish from a year ago, and the same goes for senior Frances VanSloan in the extended solo competition, who ended last season in sixth place.

Moving on to the trio team, Moberg and Peterson add fellow senior Kate Harrison to form Minnesota’s reining third place squad. There’s nothing wrong with being in the top three, but head coach Laura Davison envisions big things for this group.

“I think that trio is going to take state,” she says.

That proclamation may sound like pressure, but Moberg is right there in agreement with her coach.

“This year we’re looking to get first,” the captain says.

In the extended division, the top team routine consists of three more seniors — Heidi Bolenbaugh, Heather Ristow and captain Ann Husfeldt - as well as sophomore Heidi Merrier. And they all join VanSloun, Moberg and Peterson (the third and final captain) on a line-up that took fourth in 2006.

Nearing the middle of her fourth season as head coach, Davison points out what is starting to become rather obvious.

“I have so much depth this year, it’s exciting,” she states. “I expect to move up in the ranks as far as those numbers go.”

On Tuesday, April 24, the Rangers will begin competing in routines, whereas the first month of their schedule was comprised of figures. In a figures meet, each synchronized swimmer executes a specific movement in front of a panel of judges. The movements are called Ballet Leg, Barracuda, Walkover Front and Neptunes.

Routines, on the other hand, are what most people picture when they think of synchronized swimming, where the girls perform to music for a set amount of time. The extended division is four minutes, the trio and duets are three and a half minutes, and the solo routine is three minutes.

Keep in mind that the swimmers can’t touch the bottom of the pool; they spend a large chunk of the performance underwater; they travel from one end of the pool to the other, in unison and in various formations, and then they manage to do lifts, where they can throw a teammate 10 feet in the air.

The judges factor in two components for routines: technical and artistic. They’ll look at overall difficulty, how much time swimmers’ heads are above water, pool coverage, and how much of the performance the girls have one or both arms out of the water.

Piece of cake, right?

“It’s very challenging,” Davison says. “In swimming you can breathe when you want to, in synchronized you breathe when it’s written in.”

Now go back and see how team members like Peterson and Moberg have multiple routines to choreograph and present, which means up to 11 minutes of exhaustive competition, all done with a smile.

No wonder they spend hour after hour at practice, and this year they have the benefit of an extra coach.

Along with Davison, the Rangers have Allison Peper, Hannah McKenzie and Molly Yoch to each focus on one individual routine.

And maybe, just maybe, the added coaching and attention can push Forest Lake past Stillwater, who has never placed lower than second at the state meet. Outside of the Ponies, the top programs come from Wayzata and St. Louis Park, with the Rangers expected to be right up there.

“There’s no talent that’s missing from our top teams, we’re just building on what we had last year,” Moberg says. “We really want to step it up.”

With a roster that is deep on depth and filled with skill, Davison has a difficult time concealing her enthusiasm.

“I think our extended team routine is going to place in the top three. Overall, this is the best team we’ve ever had.”

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