Nelson Reflections synchronized swim club is holding its annual winter Water Show on Sunday.
The show marks the end of of the club's winter season and offers swimmers a chance to showoff the routines they've practiced during the season.
It's also an opportunity for prospective members to come out and see what the club's all about.
"Synchronized swimming is good crossover sport to build up your fitness and strength for other activities," Reflections head coach Erin Fitchett said.
The sport combines elements of dance and gymnastics in the water, and though the girls make the movements look graceful and effortless, it's is anything but easy.
"When girls come into the sport, in short amount of time their parents often comment on how fit they become," Fitchett said. "They're doing two hours of cardio in the water at every practice, but they don't realize how hard they're truly working because there's music playing and they're having fun."
The Reflections is a non-competitive performance club. The club stopped competing in 2009, mainly because of the time commitment and fundraising required for out of town competition.
"We wanted the girls to still be able to enjoy working as a team to learn routines, without having to give up their weekends for competitions," Fitchett said.
The team meets in the pool Tuesdays and Thursdays after school, from 4 to 6 p.m. Besides Fitchett there are also two performance coaches, Shelby Ellis and Mckenna Carlson, who lead the girls through their routines.
Fitchett said one of the most gratifying parts of coaching is seeing the experienced swimmers work with the new recruits to improve their skills.
"There's a lot of team spirit and I think the girls enjoy helping each other improve," Fitchett said.
This year's winter Water Show will feature the 10 members of the Reflections swimming together in one 10-minute routine. The theme of the show is "Around the World."
"Usually the girls break into groups and each develop a short routine, so we're really excited to have everyone swimming together for this show," Fitchett said. "It's going to be non-stop action. There are six selections of music from around the world that the girls swim to."
The Reflections' spring season begins on January 22. Anyone who attends the Water Show and is interested in joining the team is invited to talk to Fitchett after the event (she'll be the MC for the show).
Prospective members are also welcome to try swimming with the club free for the first two sessions (January 22 at 24) to see if they like it. Swimmers must be between nine and 18 years of age and be comfortable swimming 100 metres (four lengths of the pool).
For more information about the Nelson Reflections, see nelsonreflections.com or email nelsonreflections@shaw.ca.
The winter water show is Sunday, January 20 at noon in the Nelson and District Community Complex pool. Admission is by donation and all are welcome.