🏊🏼 How synchronised swimming helped me become a better interpreter ⚖️ 🎧 July Newsletter 2024
One of the events I’m most looking forward to watching at the Olympics later this month is synchronised swimming - or ‘artistic swimming’, as it’s now called.
Not many of my clients know this, but as a teenager, I was part of Sicily’s first synchronised swimming team.
It was an intense but fun period of my life. We’d practise our routines endlessly, timing each move to perfection. We socialised together too, forging a deep bond of friendship that translated into a beautiful harmony of movement in the water.
I gave up the sport when I went to university in Rome, but I still use some of the skills I learned during those days.
There are many similarities between synchronised swimming and simultaneous interpretation.
Both seem almost magical to the casual observer. People often wander over to my booth after an interpreting shift and ask how on earth I do it.
The secret to success in both fields is intense concentration, excellent communication and an ability to connect with others.
When I interpret, I synchronise with the speaker - it’s almost as if we become the same person. I’m often able to follow their train of thought so closely, I can predict what they will say next.
Deliberate practice is also key to performing well. I never made it to the Olympics as a swimmer, but if there were an equivalent competition for interpreters, I’d like to think that after twenty years I’d have a shot at gold!
Also in July’s newsletter:
- Puglia in the spotlight
- The joy of gelato
- Latest news on amendments to EWC Directive
- What my team and I have been working on
- The power of rest
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Happy Reading!
Luciana