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Liz Corman: Olympic synchronized swimmers from below

Synchronized swimming, a sport I have been involved with for more than 20 years, has served as a foundational element for much of my work in photography. I have been able to fuse my extensive training in synchro with a Fine Art education, where I honed in my extremely niche point of view. Synchro combines gymnastics, dance, and swimming; individually beautiful, together extraordinary. Similarly, my love of synchro and photography, and the transference of one passion to another, has been an extraordinary decade long experience, and I feel I have just started.

In the last two years, I have been afforded the opportunity to work with the elite of USA Synchro and be a part of the athletes’ journey to the FINA World Championships and the Olympics (including traveling to Rio for the Games). Working with the highest caliber athletes in the US has opened me to a prolific period of exploration, sometimes dependent on the project at hand as in the case of the 2016 National Team and Olympic Duet where I felt compelled to present more heroic and patriotic imagery. In contrast, the photos of the Mixed Duets, all with Bill May as the male partner, have much more artistic license to them. Unlike the Olympic Duet, all of the partnerships of the Mixed Duets are based in Las Vegas where they perform in shows such as O by Cirque du Soliel.

Like so many photographers, I hope to share that which I cannot express with words alone. The art of movement in the water is something that I feel to my core; a sentiment I most commonly share with my models. I hope that through my work, I am able to elevate the sport that has given me so much in my life and bring it’s undeniable beauty to a broad audience.

Find more of Liz Corman’s underwater photography work here.

Find more information on Bill May here, including some amazing shots by John Huet.

Find more information on the US Duet’s performance in Rio here.

2015 US Mixed Duet Squad – Bill May, Kristina Lum Underwood, and Christina Noelle Jones (2008 Olympian).
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2015 US Mixed Duet Squad – Bill May, Kristina Lum Underwood, and Christina Noelle Jones (2008 Olympian).

2016 US National Synchronized Swim Team. Clockwise starting at 12 – Claire Barton, Mariya Koroleva, Anita Alvarez, Phoebe Coffin, Sarah Rodriguez, Alison Williams. Inspiration: Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze 1851.
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2016 US National Synchronized Swim Team. Clockwise starting at 12 – Claire Barton, Mariya Koroleva, Anita Alvarez, Phoebe Coffin, Sarah Rodriguez, Alison Williams. Inspiration: Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze 1851.

2016 US National Synchronized Swim Team. L-R Alison Williams, Claire Barton, Mariya Koroleva, Anita Alvarez, Sarah Rodriguez, Phoebe Coffin. Inspiration: An American Eagle.
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2016 US National Synchronized Swim Team. L-R Alison Williams, Claire Barton, Mariya Koroleva, Anita Alvarez, Sarah Rodriguez, Phoebe Coffin. Inspiration: An American Eagle.

2016 US Olympic Synchronized Swimming Duet – Mariya Koroleva and Anita Alvarez
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2016 US Olympic Synchronized Swimming Duet – Mariya Koroleva and Anita Alvarez

2016 US Olympic Synchronized Swimming Duet – Mariya Koroleva and Anita Alvarez
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2016 US Olympic Synchronized Swimming Duet – Mariya Koroleva and Anita Alvarez

2016 US Olympic Synchronized Swimming Duet – Mariya Koroleva and Anita Alvarez
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2016 US Olympic Synchronized Swimming Duet – Mariya Koroleva and Anita Alvarez

2015 US Mixed Technical Duet World Champions – Bill May (World Champion) and Christina Noelle Jones (2008 Olympian).
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2015 US Mixed Technical Duet World Champions – Bill May (World Champion) and Christina Noelle Jones (2008 Olympian).

2015 US Mixed Technical Duet World Champions – Bill May (World Champion) and Christina Noelle Jones (2008 Olympian)
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2015 US Mixed Technical Duet World Champions – Bill May (World Champion) and Christina Noelle Jones (2008 Olympian)

2015 US Mixed Technical Duet World Champions – Bill May and Christina Noelle Jones (2008 Olympian)
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2015 US Mixed Technical Duet World Champions – Bill May and Christina Noelle Jones (2008 Olympian)

2015 US Mixed Technical Duet World Champions – Bill May and Christina Noelle Jones (2008 Olympian). Inspiration: The Kiss by Gustav Klimt 1908
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2015 US Mixed Technical Duet World Champions – Bill May and Christina Noelle Jones (2008 Olympian). Inspiration: The Kiss by Gustav Klimt 1908

2015 US Mixed Technical Duet World Champions – Bill May and Christina Noelle Jones (2008 Olympian). “Brahma”
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2015 US Mixed Technical Duet World Champions – Bill May and Christina Noelle Jones (2008 Olympian). “Brahma”

2000 US Synchronized Swimming Olympian – Kristina Lum Underwood
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2000 US Synchronized Swimming Olympian – Kristina Lum Underwood

Bill May – Most famous male synchronized swimmer and world champion
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Bill May – Most famous male synchronized swimmer and world champion

2017 US Mixed Duet – Bill May and Kanako Kitao (2004 Olympian)
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2017 US Mixed Duet – Bill May and Kanako Kitao (2004 Olympian)

2012 US Synchronized Swimming Olympian – Mary Killman
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2012 US Synchronized Swimming Olympian – Mary Killman