Swimming with style

Deb Holicky celebrates 30th year coaching water dance production

Trish Marczak

Published Saturday, April 12, 2008

Deb Holicky is no stranger to the pool. For the past 20 years, she has dedicated her time and energy as a synchronized swimming coach in Fergus Falls.

Holicky was first introduced to the world of synchronized swimming during her senior year at Bemidji State University when she enrolled in a two-credit elective course. A few years later, she found herself coaching the sport in Montgomery, where she was teaching physical education.

After putting in 10 years of teaching and coaching in Montgomery, she moved to Fergus Falls to do the same.

Holicky began her coaching career in Fergus Falls in 1989, coaching the junior club, made up of fifth- through eighth-graders at the YMCA. For the past 16 years, she has coached the high school’s senior club, made up of ninth- through 12th-graders. Her daughter, Amanda, now coaches the junior club.

Throughout the years, sychronized swimming has been more than just a sport for Holicky, it has been a way of life.

“It gets into your heart; it becomes a passion,” she said. “You like to do it. You get into the water with the girls and you know there is a way to make it work.”

It has become something her whole family has been involved in. Whether it was her husband helping out with taping and lighting, or her son being thrown in to perform last minute, she has made sure to include them.

When her oldest daughter, Amanda, graduated, Holicky and her two daughters swam to a song dedicated to her mother and her husband. She said this topped the list of her all-time favorite memories.

“I said, ‘This is the last time mom will be in the water with you girls.’”

Holicky has created a few traditions throughout the years. Every year, the club performs a long chain, which is a move that requires swimmers to link together underwater, connecting themselves from chin to foot.

She also makes sure every year’s performance incorporates the use of lumineers. Her favorite lumineer performance took place in 2001, when the team linked together to form a glowing heart at the end of the show.

Mary Ann Anderson’s daughter, Kayla, has been a part of the program for the past four years. As a parent, she has seen the time and effort Holicky has put into the program.

“If it wasn’t for Deb, there wouldn’t be a synchronized swimming program in Fergus Falls,” she said.

Along the way, Holicky has played a special role in a number of people’s lives. She coached former swimmer Chelsea Adams for four years. Adams started in 2000 as a freshman and continued on through her senior year. Even then, she wasn’t ready to say good-bye to Holicky. Adams stayed and coached with her for two years after graduation. She stuck around because of Holicky’s passion and positivity.

“She was encouraging in a good way. She brought out the best in all of her swimmers,” she said.

Nancy Eisinger coached alongside Deb for two years in the early 1990s. During this time, she realized just how committed Deb was to the program.

“She’s so enthusiastic; she’s a go-to-it girl,” Eisinger said. “Her heart is with the kids, definately. You rarely see Deb discouraged. She’s always upbeat and encouraging.”

Holicky has no plans to retire at this point. Even after 30 years, she is as enthusiastic as ever. She said it’s the kids that keep her coming back year after year.

“I like working with teenagers,” she said. “My heart is still with young people. It is just a passion for me.”

Holicky can’t recall a single year that has outshown the rest. Every year has been a hit, she said.

“Each year, you have special kids. I can never identify one special year because it’s just fun to be with all of them.”

When, and if, Holicky retires, she plans to pass on the coaching tradition to her daughter, Amanda.

The club performs one show a year, with the purpose of entertaining the community.

To honor Holicky, this year’s synchronized swimming show will incoporate music from the past 20 years of performances.

The show will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, at the Fergus Falls Middle School pool. A reception highlighting her service to the synchornized swimming community will take place in the middle school’s wrestling room following Saturday’s show.

Water dance requires grace, healthy lungs:

Synchronized swimming is a form of dance that takes place in water. Not only do swimmers perform a choreographed routine set to music, they also execute their performance in perfect unison with one another.

It takes a great deal of creativity, strength and endurance to carry out performances. It also helps to have a healthy pair of lungs as most routines require swimmers to spend up to 30 seconds under water.

The sport’s first-ever competition took place between two colleges in Chicago, Ill., in 1939. Since then, the sport has grown in popularity and spread throughout the world. Synchronized swimming can be performed for entertainment or competitive purposes.

The sport of synchronized swimming first made its way into the Olympic scene as an exhibition sport in 1948. It wasn’t until the Los Angeles Olympics of 1984, that it became an official Olympic sport.

Olympic performances are judged based on technical and artistic performance. Two panels of five judges score performances on a scale of 0-10. The scoring system is very similar to that of figure skating and gymnastics. This year’s Olympic games in Beijing will judge duet and team routines.

The Americans took home two bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics for their duet and team routines.

This year’s 2008 team has only one returning swimmer, Andrea Nott, who was part of the 2004 duet team. The Olympic competition is strictly a female event.

Synchronized swim terms:

• Boost — A move in which the swimmer rises rapidly out of the water, head first, bringing as much of the body as possible above the surface.

• Cadence Action — A sequence of identical movements performed by all team members individually and in rapid succession.

• Dolphin — A move in which the swimmer, from a horizontal position on the surface, submerges headfirst and swims down and under, re-emerging in the original location.

• Lift — A move in which one or more swimmers lift a swimmer or swimmers above the surface.

• Ballet Leg — A position in which one leg is extended perpendicular to the water surface, while the body is in a back layout position.

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