Blue Heaven

The Aquadettes get together at 10 a.m. every Friday for an hour of business--that would be discussing synchronized swimming--and then, from 11 a.m. to noon, they’re in the water doing it.

How do they get synchronized? “With difficulty,” laughs Gloria Marienthal, 76, an eight-year member of the Laguna Woods/Leisure World recreational swim team. Learning to swim to the beat of the music--not before or after--is the first hurdle. Later, comes the cool stuff, “tricks” such as pikes, porpoises and back walkovers.

In the case for exercise and camaraderie as keys to lasting youth, the Aquadettes are living proof. Most of the “girls,” as they call themselves, are in their 70s and 80s but certainly don’t move like it. And their bond goes beyond the pool to everything from going out to lunch together, to hitting the party circuit, to being there for each other in times of need.

The Aquadettes swim at least twice a week and get together all year, except for a break for the winter holidays. Beginning each January, there are swimming skills to polish, new members to bring up to speed, songs to choose, numbers to choreograph, costumes to create. Leading the 26-member troupe through it all are coaches Eileen Allen, 86, and Beverly Margolis, 71. Always, they are drilling in that part about keeping time to the music.

Underwater speakers, like the ones Olympic competitors use, pump their songs into the pool. This year’s numbers include a waltz, “Love Changes Everything,” “Pachebel’s Canon,” “Minnie the Moocher,” “Ol’ Man River” and an American medley as a finale.

As for being seen in public in swimsuits, it’s just part of the show as they put on local productions for their fellow age-55-and-over Laguna Woods residents, and perform in national television shows and commercials. They used $20,000 they earned from a commercial to buy the poolside risers that now let them seat 350 for their annual late summer Aqua Follies performances.

This year’s final number in their 35th annual production, “God Bless America,” brought their audience to its feet in a combination of appreciation and patriotism. As the Aquadettes stood in formation on the pool steps, their audience broke into song--and so did they.