Strugnell flies the synchro flag in Barcelona

Benoni’s Laura Strugnell is not only making her hometown proud, but the country as well, with her recent participation in the 2013 Fina World Championships, in Barcelona.

According to Strugnell, who now stays in Cape Town, synchronised swimming is a combination of strength and endurance swimming, gymnastics, ballet and dancing — all in the water, to the music of your choice.

“I enjoy synchronised swimming because I am able to do all the sports I love at once,” she said.

“It’s not as easy as it looks,

“We are trained to make it look easy and the easier you make it look the higher your marks will be.

“What most people don’t know is that we are not allowed to ever touch the floor, otherwise a two-point penalty will be given.”

This is the second world championship in which that Strugnell has competed and is a very prestigious event in synchronised swimming.

“Barcelona was absolutely beautiful and the facilities that we used were unbelievable,” she said.

Strugnell and her duet partner, Emma Manners-Wood, competed in the free duet routine event and placed 33rd.

“South Africa is a developing country in synchronised swimming, so the competition is stiff,” she said.

“Our next step is to get more international exposure and we have been working incredibly hard to get South Africa a higher ranking.

“We will be working on that for the next three years, as our goal is to make the next Olympics in Rio.

“We need to build, so that the younger girls will have more opportunities and a brighter future in synchro.”

Strugnell said that synchronised swimming is not a very big sport in South Africa, due to limited facilities and resources that make it very difficult for the sport to grow.

“We are currently in progress with a plan to start it up again in Johannesburg,” she added.

“My dream was to go to world championships, something that I never thought was possible, and once I made it I set a new dream for the Olympics.

“Keep a look out for us at the next Olympics, in Rio.”