Keana Hunter spends most of her day upside down, trying to avoid getting kicked in the head while hiding from the sun. And she wouldn't have it any other way.
The 20-year-old first-time Olympian will represent Team USA at the Paris Olympics this summer.
Team USA hasn't qualified in the Olympic artistic team event since 2008. It last medaled in the sport formerly known as synchronized swimming with a bronze at the 2004 Athens Games.
Head coach Andrea Fuentes is getting a lot of credit for turning the team around. Fuentes is the most decorated artistic swimmer ever for Spain and won four Olympic medals.
Keana and her teammates relocated to Los Angeles for a year, putting their lives on hold to train for 10 hours a day, six days a week. Eight of those hours are in the water.
Artistic swimming is considered one of the toughest sports in the Olympics because of its blend of physical strength, flexibility, and performance.
"You're upside down in the water looking at your pattern and making sure you're in the right spot. But you're also traveling. So everything has to come together to make it like this beautiful routine. But there are so many pieces that like take hours and hours to fix," Keana said.
Coach Fuentes recently announced her Olympic roster of eight athletes. A squad of 12 swimmers qualified the U.S. for one of 10 Olympic spots but only eight athletes can compete in Paris.
Only one swimmer in the final eight has Olympic experience. The rest are first-time Olympians like Keana.
On this Dying to Ask:
An update on Bill May, the 45-year-old artistic swimmer who'd hoped to become the first man to represent Team USA in the Olympics
Keana breaks down what it's actually like underwater for an artistic swimmer
Find out how swimmers protect themselves from the sun when they're in a pool for 8 hours a day
How do you maintain passion for a goal despite that much training and sacrifice

Ver todos los episodios