THEIR DREAM: Synchronized swimmers from McMaster, Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier universities have formed a dream team to compete at the world masters aquatic championships in Australia next spring.

Swimmers from around the world will gather in Perth from April 15 to 25 to compete in swimming, diving, water polo and synchro events.

Synchronized swimmer Charlotte Peer of Waterdown came up with the idea to form a dream team for Perth.

The McMaster multimedia and communications student is president of Mac's varsity synchro swim team and is well-connected in the sport.

She used her contacts to advertise tryouts. A panel of impartial judges - including a former Olympic synchronized swimmer -- selected the team. Peer and four other McMaster swimmers landed a place.

Other team members are human resource management student Carla DiLellio of Burlington, mechanical engineering management student Lindsay MacLean of Oshawa and geography students Christa Schnarr and Melynda Saunders, both of Hamilton.

The remaining seven members are from Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier.

THEIR REGIMEN: The dream team practises together once every two weeks for four hours in Waterloo, where their coach is based.

Hour 1 is a land workout concentrating on stretching and core strengthening. The remaining three hours are spent in the pool practising routines.

Members will meet more frequently as the competition approaches to perfect routines.

The McMaster swimmers also practise twice a week with the varsity team and attend three competitions during the school year.

A typical workout involves dry land training for one hour, followed by one hour in the pool. Dry land training includes 20 minutes of running to build endurance, followed by stretching exercises for flexibility.

Important stretches include split holds -- doing splits and holding that position -- since judges look for good split positioning in water routines.

Stretching is followed by core strengthening such as crunches and leg lifts. A strong core helps swimmers maintain stability in the water.

Swimmers practise routines on land to ensure positions and timing are in sync. In the pool, they practise and perfect routines.

THEIR CHALLENGES: "I think time management is really our biggest challenge," says DiLellio. School comes first, yet a missed practice affects the entire team so swimmers must be highly organized in order to finish homework and get to the pool.

They learned time management skills as kids, when synchro practices were the reward for completing homework and maintaining good grades.

"I enjoy a nice balanced day where I do homework, but I also get together with a group of my friends in the water," says Schnarr. "It motivates me to get my homework done."