Swimming was a large part of Molly Olson’s growing up years at camp in the forties and she learned at her grandmother’s pool club. She excelled at synchronized swimming at camp and it remained a part of her high school career, as well as performing on the swim team. She was proficient enough to swim across the lake and received her lifesaving certificate.
Amy Falk (1971-74) knew how to swim before camp, but learned the basics of synchronized swimming while she was there. “I remember we would roll over and lie on our backs and do our routines. My friends and I just did this at a lake a few weeks ago,” she admitted with a laugh during her interview.
“Anybody who was in the advanced swim class could be part of the synchronized swimming,” said Shelley Harris (1965-75), who had experience in her Flint high school. “When we had days that the swim teachers could do whatever they wanted, we would play music (Beatles was my favorite), and head to the deep end to do circus dives, water ballet and pageantry out by the raft.”
The synchronized swimmers were organized by Sarah Smith and Charla Batsell, with seven campers performing under their tutelage. “Two weeks of preparation allowed Ann Williams, Missy Butsch, and Mary Davies to perform a dance to “Bless The Beasts and The Chidlren” and the entire group performed a number to “The Hop”, said an article from the “Loon” in the July 12,1975 issue.
Mary Laich was one of the junior counselors in 1966 and worked on the waterfront. Her previous experience as a camper seemed to help her, according to Dorthe Balaskas’ director reports. She taught synchronized swimming classes, which was the area in which she excelled. Another camper who attended with swimming experience was Holly Foss (1966-72). Her mother was a swimming teacher and they had a pool at their house. She spent so much time in the water, but learned synchronized swimming at camp.
An article in the “Loon” on water ballet was referenced in the third period of 1951. The theme was Indians. It began with a quartet consisting of Karen Temple, Betty Quillian, Pat Hubbard and Marsha Immerman, who added fins to their act. (?) The beginner and intermediate classes also performed, followed by Molly Olson, who performed a solo act as an Indian chief around a lit fire that rested on a raft between the docks. The Indian Princess was Nan O’Toole and the Brave was Sue Vaupre. The finale of the ballet was performed by advanced swimmers.
And then there were the girls who sunbathed—although it hardly qualified as an active sport, it was a popular activity. The smell of baby oil with iodine to hasten the tanning process was a distinct memory for Amy Johns (1967-68). The smell of “Sea and Ski” and “Coppertone” was still in Marsha Immerman’s camping memories from the fifties.
Elaine Engibous (1961-63) was a fearless swimmer and diver—unafraid of the leeches. She loved the synchronized swimming and all the different dives she learned. “We didn’t wear sunblock back then and turned brown as berries or some into crispy critters, as we lay on the dock with our baby oil on,” she laughed.
“I think we swam a couple times a day and had time to lay out in the sun and work on our tans,”said Margot Homburger (1946-52). “We would lie on the sun deck at the top of the boathouse.”
When Debi Gottlieb worked on the waterfront in the late sixties, she hung out with Ann Pennington, Chris Lamb and Karen Cox, and worked on their tans on their twenty-four hours off duty.
Aleta Axtman was the waterfront director in 1953 and was known as “the tan blonde girl with the ponytail” who was always found on the dock sunbathing during her time off.
“Those were the years everyone tried to get a good tan, but Sue Purdue always had the best tan,” said Cara Prieskorn (1966-71). “She was from Indiana and very well-liked and she would put on “Ban de Soliel”, while we were all using Coppertone, so she was always the darkest. Her skin just tanned easy or maybe because she was at the waterfront more, but even today if I smell Coppertone, I still think of camp.”
Were you in any synchronized swimming classes or water ballet during camp? Or were you one of the tanned beauties on the dock?