Part six of a six-part series
Q: How can there be a solo competition in synchronized swimming? Who or what are solo competitors synchronizing with?
A: The Canada Winter Games will feature figures, solo, duet and team events in synchronized swimming.
Synchronized swimming is a mix of swimming, dance and gymnastics. Swimmers perform a series of movements and poses to music - called figures.
Every competitor, including members of teams and duets, in synchronized swimming at the Games will have to compete in an individual competition: the figures competition.
Each competitor in the figures competition must swim two compulsory figures, plus two additional figures from one of four optional figures groups.
In the figures competition, each swimmer is judged only on the execution and difficulty of the figures they perform - there is no synchronization element.
However, synchronization becomes a factor in judging the free and technical routines performed by solos, duets and teams.
According to the FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation) general rules book for 2013 to 2017, judging is performed by three panels of five judges.
In free routines the first panel decided the execution score (worth 30 per cent of the total score), the second panel awards the artistic impression score (worth 40 per cent) and the final panel decides the difficulty score (worth 30 per cent.)
In technical routines the judging is similar, except the artistic impression score is only worth 30 per cent and the third panel awards an elements score (worth 40 per cent of the total score), instead based on difficulty.
In both routines, the execution panel awards points based on synchronization and execution.
According to FINA, synchronization scores should be awarded based on "the precision of in unison, one with the other, and the accompaniment above, at and below the surface Synchronization of timing of one with another and with music."
So synchronized swimmers are judged not just on their synchronization with each other, but also with the music accompanying their routine.
Because solo swimmers only need to synchronize themselves with their music, the synchronization portion of the score is only worth 10 per cent of the total execution score -or three per cent of the final score. For duets and teams, synchronization is worth half the execution score, making it worth 15 per cent of the final score.
While one often thinks of teams of swimmers moving together in simultaneous, graceful motion as what synchronized swimming is all about, solo competitions play a key role in the sport.
Q: When did table tennis become a sport? Why isn't it called Ping-Pong anymore?
A: The Canada Winter Games will feature men's and women's singles and doubles competition, as well as a mixed doubles competition.
But when did the popular parlour game of table tennis - familiar to many from rec rooms and dorm rooms around the world - become a competitive sport?
According to the International Table Tennis Federation, several attempts were made in the 19th century to bring the fun of lawn tennis to a smaller, indoor playing surface.
In 1890 David Foster introduced Parlour Table Games in England.
The game set included tabletop versions of cricket, football and tennis.
It is the first known game that brought the action of outdoor tennis to life on a tabletop with stringed rackets, 30 mm cloth-covered rubber balls and a net.
The game included a wooden perimeter fence and side nets to catch stray balls.
Other game makers followed suite with games called Gossima, whiff-whaff and ping-pong (which was trademarked as Ping-Pong by J. Jaques & Son Ltd. in 1901, which later sold the trademark to Parker Brothers). Because the name Ping-Pong is trademarked, the generic term for the game table tennis.
The game grew in popularity during the early 1900s and people began to organize tournaments and consolidate the rules of the game.
In 1921 the British Table Tennis Association was formed, and in 1926 the International Table Tennis Federation was founded -with Austria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Germany, Hungary, India, Sweden and Wales being the founding members.
In December 1926 the first official World Table Tennis Championships were held in London.
One could argue that was the moment table tennis transformed from a parlour amusement to a true competitive sport.
Table tennis debuted as an Olympic sport at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, Korea - sealing table tennis' place as an international sport played at the highest level.
So, just because you first played it in a basement rec room on a rainy afternoon doesn't mean that table tennis isn't a serious sport.
Q: What kind of target shooting will be taking place at the Canada Winter Games? What equipment do they use?
A: The Canada Winter Games will feature men and women's individual and team competitions in 10 metre air pistol and 10 metre air rifle.
Air pistols and air rifles fire 4.5 mm (0.177 calibre) pellets using compressed air or carbon dioxide at targets 10 metres away.
Both air pistol and air rifle are shot from standing positions only.
Air pistol shooters use a target 155.5 mm in diameter, with the centre ring (worth 10 points)
11.5 mm in diameter.
The air rifle target is only 45.5 mm in diameter and the centre ring is a mere 0.5 mm across.
Shots are loaded and fired one at a time. International Sport Shooting Federation rules dictate the maximum weight, length and other features of the air pistols and rifles used.
The women fire off 40 shots for a total possible 400 points in 50 minutes during competitions, while the men fire off 60 shots in 75 minutes for a 600-point possible score.
The individual competitions will have a final round, with the top eight competitors firing 20 shots each to determine the winner.
Q: Are able-bodied people able to play wheelchair basketball? If so, is there any special rules for them?
A: The Canada Winter Games will feature male and female team competitions in wheelchair basketball.
The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation rules, including the IWBF classification system for players, will be used.
Under the federation's classification system, players are assigned a point value from one to 4.5 based on trunk function, lower limb function, upper limb function and hand function.
Able-bodied athletes are classified at 4.5-point players. Male teams can have a maximum of 15 points worth of players on the court at one time, while female teams can have a maximum of 16 points on the court at one time.
According to the federation's Official Player Classification Manual a class one player has:
Little or no controlled forward trunk movement.
No active trunk rotation ability.
Significantly impaired balance both forward and sideways.
Must rely on their arms to return to the upright position when unbalanced.
A class two player has:
Partially-controlled forward trunk movement.
Active upper trunk rotation, but no lower trunk function.
No controlled sideways
movement.
A class three player has:
Good forward trunk movement.
Good trunk rotation.
No controlled trunk movements sideways.
A class four player has:
Normal trunk movements, but difficulty with controlled movement to one side.
A class 4.5 player has:
Normal trunk movement in all directions.
Able to reach side to side with no limitations.
Not all class 4.5 players are able-bodied. Some have lower-leg injuries that don't hinder their movements in a wheelchair.
During play, there is five players on the court at any given time.
So not all the players on the court can be able-bodied.
For a men's game, if the team had two able-bodied players on the court (nine points), the remaining players would have to be a mix of class one, two, three and four players totaling no more than six points.
In addition to the player classification system, players may be assessed a player advantage foul if they use their legs to raise themselves in their seat, steer their chair or balance themselves in any way to gain an advantage.
Able-bodied people can and do play wheelchair basketball -but are not allowed to force disabled players out of the game or use their legs to unfair advantage.
Do you have questions about events in the news? Are you puzzled by some local oddity? Does something you've seen, heard or read just not make sense? Email your questions to awilliams@pgcitizen.ca.
