Members of the Fairview High School Synchronettes pose before hitting the pool for their 50th anniversary show.Last week the Fairview High School Synchronettes synchronized swimming team celebrated its 50th anniversary with a special three-night performance commemorating the last five decades of the program.
One of the few remaining high school synchronized swimming programs in the area, the 18-girl team is coached by former Synchronettes Jennifer Murphy and Mary Burkhardt (who is Murphy’s former coach).
Murphy said it is her understanding that the program first started in 1961 as a way to give girls something in which to participate. At that time most organized school sports were still male-oriented.
There were up to 52 girls on the team at one point, but the number fell as other sports competed for girls’ attention.
The coaches and swimmers invested a lot of time and effort in the program over the years.
“One of the things that people don’t know is how hard it is. It is really tough physically. You have to be strong. You have to be able to hold your breath. You are swimming in the dark under water. There are some misconceptions about what it takes to do it,” Murphy said.
“I think people might not have an idea of how much time and effort goes into this. Costumes, they do them all. Moms sew. Girls sew. Backdrop props are all made by the girls,” she added.
Initiated in 1961 by Kay Cilamburg, a physical education teacher from Lewis F. Mayer Junior High, leadership was handed off to fellow physical education teacher Jane Weaver, who ran the program for years before she was succeeded by Nancy Gelhke, the pool manager. Gelhke coached the team for 11 years. After that, the team was coached by alumnae.
This year’s commemorative program featured 13 different numbers, with each song representing one of the last 50 years — two songs from each decade, plus three extra thrown in for good measure.
The show’s narrators, Elanda Goduni and Mark Zach, kept the audience entertained between acts with anecdotal tidbits about the program’s history, giving a glimpse into the program’s roots, highlighting past shows and explaining the similarities between past and current performances.
In some cases the numbers were performed exactly as they were in years past.
“They were good back then, so we thought, why reinvent the wheel?” Murphy said.
“We are really, really proud of what we have accomplished (over the years). We want to keep the program going the way it is. Hopefully, 20 years from now we are still doing it,” Murphy said.
See more Fairview Park news at cleveland.com/fairview-park.
Gluck is a freelancer from Bay Village. Contact her at kate.gluck@sbcglobal.net.