Only a few states in the US have high school synchro
In Minnesota, the high school system includes 14 schools, divided into 3 sections (East, West, and Central)
East: Columbia Heights, Forest Lake, Itasca, Richfield, Stillwater
West: Wayzata, Eden Prairie, Blake, Hopkins, Prior Lake
Central: Maple Grove-Osseo, Edina, Bloomington, St. Louis Park
Highschool synchro has 3 divisions
Short (JV)
Long (Varsity)
Extended (Varsity)
Swimmers may compete in more than one division for different events
Synchro has two components:
Figures
Required skills for synchronized swimming performed individually, and slowly, without music.
Scored by a panel of judges, on design and control.
All swimmers wear black suits and white caps for figures for all meets throughout the season.
There are JV and Varsity figures. JV figures disappear after the regular season, and everyone does Varsity figures at Section & State meets.
Routines
Solos, Duets, Trios and Teams
Solos= 1 swimmer, Duets= 2 swimmers, Trios= 3 swimmers, Teams= 4 to 8 swimmers. One quarter bonus point is added to the score for each additional swimmer over four, for team routines.
Each school team is limited to 18 routines to be divided among the solo, duet, and trio categories in which they qualify. Unlimited entries in team categories are allowed.
Each competitor may enter a maximum of 3 categories; if they do so, one must be a team.
They are judged by a panel of officials for Technical Merit, Artistic Impression, and Difficulty.
Swimmers wear black swimsuits and white caps for routine competition for regular season meets. For championship meets, swimmers will wear embroidered costume suits, headpieces, and gelatin in their hair to hold it in place.
There are usually 6 competitive meets (dual or tri-team) in the regular season
The first 3 meets are figures, only
The last 3 meets are routines, only
We work on both figures and routines, at practice, the whole season
During dual/tri meets, each school may enter 6 routines for points: 1 team routine, with the remaining 5 routines being distributed among solos, duets and trios with no more than 2 entries per event.
Championship competitions have both figure and routine components, and the scores are combined to each total 50% of your score.
Routines or Figures that place in the top 4 at the Section meet, for each division, go on to state. (ex. short figures, short solos, etc.)
Once you place an event at state (1-7th place), you will permanently move into the next division for that event.
Once you place any event for any division at state, you may no longer compete in the short division.