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6:45AM Monday 08 September, 2008 Sunshine Coast weather Mostly sunny min 11° - max 23°

Tarren in sync for Games

18 July 2008

Twenty-four-year-old Tarren Otte is on the journey of a lifetime – to the Beijing Olympics in the synchronised swimming team.

Tarren is the daughter of Sunshine Beach local Ron Otte and, much like her dad, she is a dedicated sportsperson.

Her inspiration arrived in primary school from a teacher who passed on her skills and love of synchronised swimming.

You can say she might have gone over the top, but she has never looked back.

This year she has taken a year off physical education teaching studies to achieve her life-long ambition as an Olympic competitor.

With other team members she is spending nine hours a day in training, seven of them in Brisbane’s Chandlers swimming pool.

The Olympic routine will consist of three minutes for the technical routine and four minutes for the free routine.

“For the free routine we will have contemporary, indigenous music with a portrayal of native animals,” she said.

“There are special costumes and there’s plenty of glitter and sequins.”

It looks like perhaps the most effortless event in the Olympic Games, but there is more to synchronised swimming than what appears on the surface.

It demands strength, endurance, flexibility, grace and artistry.

Unusual, but vital, equipment helps the women maintain the illusion of effortlessness – no simple task, considering they perform strenuous movements upside down and underwater while holding their breath.

Looking fit and sounding positive, Tarren said her chosen sport was a mix of things such as breath control, gymnastics, aerobics, water polo and yoga.

But most of all she enjoyed the “creative and artistic nature” of synchronised swimming.

Tarren and her family members leave for Beijing on August 6, but they will be the last event to compete on August 22 and 23.

“So it looks like there will be no free Maccas in the village for us,” Tarren joked.

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