In a world filled with various sorts of eclectic amateur and professional athletics, people have managed to come up with just about every form of entertainment under the sun, and even in the water.
It may be no surprise that a city surrounded by so much water is home to a professional synchronized swimming team called Ripple Effect. The group was started by owner and creative director Jill Shovlin, who decided to turn the club pro after the sport was dropped at Canisius College (the budget was diverted to “the big four sports”). Alongside her mother, Jill coached the Canisius College D1 varsity program, which managed to accumulate 17 straight conference championship titles and a number of All Americans. After coaching for a number of successful seasons, and cultivating a high ranking roster of swimmers, Jill felt that she needed to carry the torch forward by creating her own touring company in Buffalo called Ripple Effect Aquatic Entertainment.
Today Jill is in the business of creating dynamic, aquatic choreographed routines for her swimmers who go on to perform at events and venues that range from national showings to weddings and corporate functions. It is Jill’s dream to be able to create a more permanent show in Buffalo, where her synchronized swimmers could be seen by locals and visitors on an ongoing basis. “Believe it or not western NY is a hotbed for Synchronized Swimming,” says Jill. “We create custom water shows featuring nationally and internationally ranked synchronized swimmers. Think of it as the Rockettes but wet! Our goal is to open a show in Buffalo in a great pool venue. With water being such a great part of Buffalo we feel that we could add a unique entertaining show for the people and visitors of this great city.”
I think that it would be great to see these swimmers perform at the City’s public pools throughout the course of the summer. The newly renovated Centennial Pool at LaSalle Park would be the perfect venue for these girls to entertain people of all ages. Recently the City has been attempting to get more young people interested in learning to swim, and taking advantage of our water resources. This type of performance-based entertainment goes hand-in-hand with that mission.
To learn more about this synchronized swimming team, you can visit Ripple Effect Aquatic Entertainment online at www.rippleeffectaquaent.com. The team is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.