30s

Meet the 30s

Lilia joined the Unsyncables after beginning synchro with L.A.'s Team Atlantis. She and former duet partner John took 4th place in their first Nationals in Tucson in 2001. She took a couple years off to finish her nursing degree, but came back to be a member of the 2nd place 40-49 team in Nationals in 2004, as well as the 2nd place 20-29 duet with Catherine. She went to Worlds in 2006 and was a member of the 20-34 team and also placed 4th in the 35-49 trio event. She has gone to the last 3 Nationals and placed 2nd in team in 20-29 in 2008, as well as 4th in 30-39 solo. She didn't compete in 2005 and 2007 due to the birth of a son and a daughter. Her family also includes a daughter going off to college this year. Lilia works in the Labor and Delivery/Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Glendale Adventist hospital. She has been the Synchro Coordinator for L.A. City Park & Rec for many years and has also been a drill team instructor for her daughter's school.

Akiko started with the Unsyncables in 2006 and is just as eager as Lori. She and Lori swam a duet in Worlds that year and took 11th place in 30-39. She has been to Nationals the past 2 years as a member of the 'Synchro-Nuts' team, placing 5th in 2007 and 4th in 2008. A high school music teacher with a masters degree in music, she thoroughly understands music and even our need to count 4/4 music in 8s. She became interested in synchro after seeing on TV an interview of a famous synchro swimmer in Japan and hearing her say that the hardest thing for her was keeping her weight up. Akiko immediately thought, "I am in the wrong profession!"

Michele first swam with the Unsyncables in 2001 and has earned at least 1 medal place in every nationals she has attended since. Her first world championship meet came in Palo Alto where she and Lindsay placed 5th in the 20-29 duet and she was also a member of the 20-34 team. A real trooper, Michele was kicked in the face during warmups and was treated by medical staff. She was cleared to swim shortly before her team competed in the 20-34 team event. She performs in many of the Unsyncables watershows and in 2004, she was selected for a McDonalds commercial. Michele had to perform in the Ronald clown outfit, complete with shoes, wig and red nose. "It was really hard", she said. A collegiate champion with The Ohio State University, she looks forward to every nationals as an opportunity to renew friendships with many of her former teammates. Michele and her husband welcomed their first baby, Fiona, in January.

Catherine is now in her 11th year as a Masters synchro swimmer which she began saying, "I thought it would be fun." She has missed a couple of meets in the last few years, being busy having two baby girls. In 2006, she (and Lilia) both brought babies to Worlds in Palo Alto. Her mom came along to help. Last year in Las Vegas, she was a member of the 30-39 GM team that took second and she placed 3rd in 30-39 solo. In 2004, she scored a plethora of silver, taking 2nd in all 3 events she entered (duet, trio and team). Never a synchro swimmer before starting Masters, she was familiar with the sport as her mother had taught water ballet at the Whittier Y when she was young. A former coach with the Cerritos Club, she is now busy at home with her two young daughters. and she took on the challenge of being Unsyncables' team President as well as Water Show Coordinator and Director.

Dana attended her first Masters Nationals in 2006 and placed 2nd in team in both 2006 and 2007. She had to miss the 2008 Nationals because she gave birth to her first baby, Phineaus, in October. She is lucky to share an obsession for water sports with husband Gabe, a water polo player. Dana swam synchro competitvely from age 7-18 in New York and has competed in Junior and Senior nationals, Junior Olympics and the Empire State Games. She looks forward to competition in Masters synchro now. She says she "loves to cook and has done dinners for silent auctions." The Unsyncables may have to tap into this special talent.

Amy returned to the Unsyncables in 200 and at Nationals, she received silver medals as part of the Unsyncables 40-49 Grandmaster in 200 with the 20-29 team in 2008. She began swimming with the Unsyncables in 2001 and was part of the group choreographing the team routine that was used in nationals that year. But she ended up going back home to Minnesota to attend veterinary school and help her mother who was not well. A former Minnesota state synchro champion, she competed in U.S. Junior National Championships as well and placed 7th in the Collegiate national championships swimming with the University of Minnesota. She plans to be back in 2010, but her schedule as a veterinarian keeps her very busy, particularly as the on-call doctor the days of our practices.

Lori originally wanted to try out for the Unsyncables in 2005, but didn't know how to swim. She was told to take lessons and come back the next year. She downloaded swimming instruction off the internet and taught herself to swim. Her eagerness and drive has shown in how quickly she has improved over the last 3 years. In her first Worlds in 2006, Lori took 24th place. Two years later, she took 10th at Worlds in Perth. She was 4th in solo at Nationals in 2007 and 5th in 2008. She has been the team captain for the 'Synchro-Nuts' team andis still a leader with that team doing patterns and choreography for them. Lori is also an author and has written a novel with a former synchronized swimmer as the heroine. For download info, please click here

Not competing in 2009.

Ymajahi started with the Unsyncables in 2002 to go to the World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. She surprised even herself there by finishing 3rd in 20-29 free solo in her very first synchro championships. Last year in Nationals, she finished 9th in 30-39 solo in a very strong field after having won the same event in 2007 when competing in 20-29. She also was part of the silver medal winning 20-29 team in Las Vegas. Ymajahi had swum one year with the L.A. Synchro Swans and had also been their head coach. She took a little time off to have her first son, Ali, and her second baby is due this October. She plans to go to the Worlds in Sweden in 2010 and of course, compete in Nationals in La Mirada.

Not competing in 2009.

Jenny came to the Unsyncables just last summer and thought it would be too soon for her to compete in Nationals in October. However, she will be competing in this year's Nationals. Jenny has had 2 years with the Cypress Swim Club, 4 years with the Northern Virginia Nereids and one year with the Meraquas of Irvine. She also was on the varsity speed team for 3 years at her high school and has taken karate. She has two children with husband Greg and home-schools, as well as teaches part-time at a high school.