In It to Wynne It

My name's Wynne Evans, opera singer, broadcaster

and someone who's always up for a challenge.

In this programme I'll be leaving the comfort of the stage

behind me and learning a new skill that's a million miles

away from my day job, and showing that I'm "In It To Wynne It".

This week I'm heading west to meet a group of girls from Swansea

who happen to be synchronised swimmers.

When I think of synchronised swimming,

I'm thinking glamorous ladies in Hollywood films,

gorgeous swimming caps,

and all appearing to be in the water but never actually getting wet.

The reality is slightly different.

It's an Olympic sport, and highly competitive.

And apparently only suitable for elite athletes.

But they always say that, though, don't they?

So my challenge is, in one month I have to perform in front

of an audience and be judged by professional synchronised swimmers -

or, as I like to call them, women in flowery hats.

Right, I'd better crack on.

Synchronised swimming day one, at the Wales International Pool.

How hard is this going to be?

I've been told they're aged between 14 and 16.

If they can do it, I can do it.

Swansea Synchro only formed five years ago,

so it shouldn't be THAT hard to catch up.

So, the girls don't know I'm coming,

so it's going to be a surprise for them. Let's see.

'Over to Holly, their coach, who is going to give me

'the big introduction.'

-SHE SHOUTS:

-As you may be aware, I've got a little surprise for you.

Our ninth member in our 15-overs team is Wynne Evans.

'Well, the girls look suitably impressed.

'And I'm impressed with Holly.

'Took me seven years of music college to get my voice that loud.'

Holly, they've just jumped in the pool. Thanks for having me, firstly.

No problem.

-Secondly, synchronised swimming, I'm thinking 1940s, 1950s films.

-Right.

-Me doing this, going...

-No, it's really not.

-What do I need to be?

-You need to be an elite gymnast...

-Check.

-..a professional dancer...

-Check.

..and an elite athlete swimmer.

Three out of three! Not bad.

What group am I going to be in?

You're going to go with our top-end older swimmers.

-So the youngest is 14 and the oldest is 16.

-The same age as my daughter.

-So they've got loads of attitude.

-Oh, yes.

-Really chopsy...

-Definitely!

-..and they think they're decent swimmers.

I'm going to be all right with this lot, I think. I'm going to fit in.

'Seriously, I'm not seeing anything here

'that is not well within my capabilities.

'Except maybe that...

'and that.'

I don't understand how they stay above the water.

It is something called eggbeater,

it's like a version of treading water,

and the aim is to get...there out the water, as a minimum.

'Yeah - what she said was eggbeater.

'It's the basics of synchro.

'Basically you turn your legs into an electric whisk.'

Tucks, thrusts.

-How is she getting down?

-Splits, down.

-So I'm like this, doing that.

-Yeah.

I'm better at this than I thought I was going to be!

-I can't get up!

-You can do!

'I think it's fair to say I've nailed the dry-land version.

'Surely being in the water isn't going to make THAT much difference.'

-Hello!

-Hi!

-Are you happy that I am the ninth member of your team?

Yes!

Is there anything I can do between now

and the first training session to kind of nail it?

-Try searching up some Bollywood. The hands.

-A lot of hand twisting.

We're going to be the best team. Team Bollywood. You're holding on!

Not allowed to hold on! Holding on, holding on!

See you Sunday.

It's actually impossible.

Is not even, like... Look at me - 43, I'm a big, old fatty,

and I can't swim.

Ah. So my routine is going to be Bollywood themed,

like just floating and not drowning wasn't difficult enough,

now we've got to throw Bollywood into the mix.

Time to go home and start putting the hours in in the water.

So I've come home to relax after the first training session -

well, WATCHING the first training session, and...

Time to practise.

Eggbeater, eggbeater, eggbeater, eggbeater, eggbeater...

I can't put it off any longer. Time to hit the pool.

Wow, is that me running?!

Hello, team!

I've been perfecting getting into the pool. Do you want to see it?

Yes!

'Cue graceful entry.

'That actually hurt, I just decided not to show it.'

I'm eggbeatering!

'Loving those Bollywood hands.

'Not loving THAT bit.'

I'm doing it.

-A bit higher! There you go!

-I've got no control where I'm going.

ALL LAUGH

'Clearly the girls are laughing WITH me, and not at me.'

'Time for Maria to teach me my main move of the routine.'

Bring it over, all the way over.

'It's a backward roll.'

I'm getting wet!

Did I do it?!

Yeah!

You see? Not everybody nails that the first time they try it.

-That is so tiring.

-It's like half an hour on a treadmill.

Not that I've ever done half an hour on the treadmill.

But I'm thinking it might be like that.

-My team leader, I'm feeling a bit despondent.

-Why?

-Because I'm rubbish. What can I do?

-You're not bad.

Just practise your eggbeater and practise sculling.

Like, if you're sitting down in your room, just go like this.

If you're having a rest at the side,

the best thing to do is practise in the water

-and if you make a little wave pool, you're sculling right.

-Show me.

So if you're going like this, you have a little wave pool.

So you're sculling right. That gets you the feel of the water as well.

-It's exhausting, isn't it?

-It is.

Chips?

Yeah!

That was...er, much harder than I thought it was going to be.

Um...

It's actually hard to stay afloat in the water.

Mmm.

Eggbeater. Eggbeater.

It's obvious in more than one way that I'm out of my depth.

I'm heading to a pool just outside Carmarthen

to get some special one-to-one help with some experienced professionals.

-Hello.

-Hello!

How are you?

Penny and Alex are ex-Team GB synchronised swimmers.

-Tell me about you. You swam in the British team, didn't you?

-Yes.

Synchronised swimming, yeah.

Penny has been a synchronised swimmer since childhood,

and has a wealth of experience with the sport.

She is an accomplished coach and will be my judge

at the final performance, so time to turn on the Evans charm.

Is it a good sport to be involved in?

It is a very good sport to be involved in. It's very hard.

I think people think it is easy

because they see the top swimmers making it look easy.

The sport itself is very technical,

it requires an awful lot of fitness levels, and strength, flexibility.

There is just so much to this sport.

I've got about five sessions in the pool.

-Realistically, what can I hope to achieve?

-How fit are you, then?

Look at me.

What do YOU think?

'Penny and Alex are going to give me some pointers in a shallow pool.

'Basically synchronised swimming for lazy people.'

'Bliss.'

Oh, my word.

Oh, my word!

Careful where you put that leg. All right?

So you're going to need to be as flat as possible in the water.

You have to really squeeze your bottom

up towards the ceiling, so you don't squish Penny.

OK, let's give it a go. Ready?

-Seriously, Penny, love, careful as you go.

-Stay like that, stay tight.

Fabulous! Excellent.

Brilliant!

Wahey!

-This is good!

-Well done. What's next on the list?

-We've done...

Look at that. If the synchronised swimming fails,

Penny is going into art.

That's upside down!

-Nice!

-That's not bad!

-'Agreed, not bad at all.'

'Basically, as long as I've got Penny holding on to me in the pool,

'I'm going to be OK.'

That's given me the boost I needed for my technical synchro,

now I need help with my swimming, so I'm heading straight to the top -

Olympian David Davies.

He represented Team GB at three Olympics

and won gold for Wales at the Commonwealth Games.

I THINK he's qualified to teach me.

-I've had a bit of trouble finding a pool, if I'm totally honest.

-OK.

It's not something you had trouble with,

but there's aqua aerobics going on in most of them,

so... You're going to love this, I've got this for us!

OK, I'll make a deal.

I won't tell him it's a hot tub if you don't.

It is set to 40 degrees.

So the main thing you're looking for is to be nice and smooth,

no splashing, nice and smooth technique,

and really getting a good pull on the water all the time.

-OK.

-So, just watch and learn.

'Well done, David Davies, Olympic champion. My go.'

So you really want to pull your arms out

and scoop the water out behind you. That's it.

You could do a leg kick as well.

You've got really, big, strong, powerful legs there.

So bend your knee up now. And then kick behind.

It's quite fast, isn't it? It's quite fast.

-How can I be drowning in a hot tub?

-You've got this.

Going to put jet two on.

What? We were only on jet one?

-I think it's on half a jet, to be honest.

-Really?

I'll give you five seconds of jet three

and go hell for leather then. Jet four. All in.

-I'm really going for it.

-Here we go.

And then to jet four.

Go on, Wynne!

What do you think?

I don't really know what to say to you, if I'm honest.

-Just stay on jet one.

-Stay on jet one!

Really? I thought you were going to say jump to jet five!

Winner of the silver medal for the Garden Centre Olympics 2016

is Mr Wynne Evans.

-Many congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

-Fantastic performance.

-Thanks very much.

As we're in a garden centre,

-congratulations.

-Thank you.

'Right, back to the Bollywood routine

'and today is dry land training.

'I'm actually OK at this.

'You see, if you take the water element out,

'I'm a bit of a natural.

'But then I suppose it would just be called synchronised.

'Alas, back in the pool,

'the backward roll is still a bit of a mystery to me.'

GIRLS LAUGH

This is impossible! It's not possible!

The backwards roll...

He just gets stuck upside down or he ends up going sideways.

He's trying to bring himself back, but he can't.

By then, we've already done like three counts of eight.

'Thank you for your kind words, girls.

'I suppose if I was in the throes of youth, I'd be quietly smug as well.'

Have you ever seen a whale beach?

It looks like this.

Like that.

'Still, me in the pool seems to be keeping the crew amused

'but that's not quite the point of the programme.'

I actually did that thing then of being sick in your own mouth.

Oh, Wynne!

'With only two weeks to go,

'I've realised there's more in the routine that I can't do

'than I can do.'

It's basically three minutes of drowning.

I can't do the basic moves,

stay above the water.

-He just keeps getting in the way.

-What?

-You keep getting in the way.

-You keep getting in my way, Megs.

-I know!

-That's awkward.

I'm trying to throw some serious shapes out there.

-You're doing good, Wynne.

-Out of 10?

Er...

Wait. What 10?

Is it like synchronised swimming 10

or what I was expecting?

'Thank you, Maria.

'We're not at home to Little Miss Rude.'

Well, I've been having trouble finding a pool to practise in,

so a friend of the director's has lent me his pool to have a go in.

As you can see, it's cold here.

It's one degree. It feels like -3.

Girls, I think I'm showing commitment.

Right.

Are you ready?

Here goes.

HE PANTS

It's absolutely freezing!

'At least I tried.

'Back to the hot tub.'

'A new day and a new approach.

'I'm going to try to work on my flexibility.

'Who better to teach me

'than Commonwealth gold medallist Frankie Jones?

'Frankie is a Welsh rhythmic gymnast

'who represented Wales at three Commonwealth Games.

'In 2014, she won gold.'

Right, my challenge is I've got to learn to be a synchronised swimmer.

They do a lot of dry land training

and they say my flexibility isn't good enough.

-Ta-da! Thought you could help me.

-Yeah.

-Let's do it!

OK, we probably ought to do a bit of a warm-up to start with.

Maybe a bit of a jog round.

'I want to be very clear.

'I'm warming up, not chasing her.

'That would be very wrong.'

HE GROANS

-Bit of a stretch. There you go.

-How's that?

-That's good.

Just get as far as you can and hold it.

My stretch is going to be like this

but I think we'll simplify it for you a little bit.

-On that?

-Lift your leg up.

Simplify it a bit!

Yeah, Wynne, you can come to the bar that's barely off the floor.

Got to give you a chance!

-Go to the side.

-Side.

Lean sideways.

Oh, that's quite nice.

I'm going to watch this back and do the exercises every day.

-Mentally?

-Yeah.

You just do a split jump.

Split jump.

I'm more of a hurdler!

There you go.

-Ooh!

-Are you OK?

It's harder than it looks.

Two, three, split.

And one, two, three.

TRAMPOLINE SNAPS

Are you OK?

-Are you all right?

-Yeah, no, I'm fine.

Oh, dear. That shouldn't happen, should it?

-Should it?

-No. You snapped this bit off!

Maybe we leave the trampolining for now.

'Spring break seems to be over

'so I'm heading back to Swansea

'with my new world-class gymnastic ability.'

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

One, two, three... That's where I'm coming up, isn't it?

And then you join in our line.

-In a line this way?

-Yeah.

-Sideways? OK.

-So I'm behind you, yeah?

-Hi.

Anahat, go to the left. Alice right.

-Wynne left.

-Three.

He needs more time to learn the basics

but, at the same time, we don't have enough time

to teach him all the basics.

We've got next Tuesday, the dress rehearsal,

then I go away filming abroad for two weeks

and I come back the day of the show.

One thing I'm finding is, on this occasion,

I may not be able to blag it.

I actually have to work hard.

Considering he's only just started synchronised swimming,

he's not doing too bad. Like, he's put itself into the routines

and he's worked out where to go,

but it's a bit too soon for the show.

It's kind of like 50-50.

Let's hope it goes well, kind of thing.

'It's been a few days since my last rehearsal

'and my confidence is at an all-time low

'but it's a big day in Swansea.'

Well, it's the evening of the dress rehearsal.

I've got... I've got man flu,

which we all know is a potential killer,

and now we've got the dress rehearsal on top of everything.

Yeah, I actually really, really want to be here.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

One, two, three, four, five...

I'm now at the stage where, the more I do the routine,

the less well I think I know it.

But it's time to get dressed up

and get involved with the glamour of synchro.

Which actually turns out to not be that glamorous.

-What's this stuff now?

-I don't know much about it.

Well, you're putting it on with a paintbrush.

It's like industrial stuff.

'That stuff is gelatine made from various animal by-products

'which keeps the hair looking perfect in the water.

'All of a sudden, I want to be a vegetarian.'

Oh, yeah, that's a stripe.

Oh, now I look like a dirty old man. This is ridiculous. Greasy hair.

This is horrible.

What are you doing?

What do you reckon? Looking good?

'Cheers, Holly.

'I didn't think it was possible to look more follicly challenged

'but you've managed it.

'Hair done, trunks on, it's time for our dress rehearsal.

'Time for the backward roll,

'a rather nice shot of my stomach - and success!

'Another nice shot of my stomach

'and a long lonely swim to the shore.'

I'm absolutely shattered.

It's one of the hardest things I've ever done.

Halfway through, because of the distance we're covering in the pool,

because we've been rehearsing in a smaller space,

I'm just shattered. I wanted to give up.

I wanted to cough the whole time.

I wanted to cough the whole time.

Next time we do it will be for real, the night of the show.

'I obviously can't impress the girls with my Bollywood skills

'so I've invited Anahat's sister, an expert in Bollywood,

'to make them feel more insecure and therefore make me look better.'

MUSIC: London Thumakda by Neha Kakkar

'That seems to have backfired spectacularly.'

Can I just say,

I love Indian dancing,

I love Indian costume,

but, most of all,

I love Indian food.

Tuck in, guys. Come on.

I'm going to go for some chicken.

So, Megan, which is easiest,

-synchronised swimming or Bollywood dancing?

-Synchro.

-You reckon?

-Yeah.

What is it about synchronised swimming

that you really, really like?

I like doing the teams and just it's a good way of making friends.

And what's it been like teaching

your synchronised swimming team-mates Bollywood?

Bollywood's something I love

and to be able to incorporate that into swimming where I'm not...

Where there's, like, so many girls better than me

and to be able to just teach them something, it's amazing.

It's amazing to share the culture with them as well.

Do you think I murdered the whole Bollywood thing in this dance?

-I think you nailed it.

-You think I've nailed it,

-you think I've murdered it!

-I think, if you tried,

-you could get a career in Bollywood if you want.

-You think so?

-I think you nailed it.

-It's something I've never done but...

I think you could definitely do it.

My last training session is done.

Time to leave Swansea and go away to work.

If I'm honest, it's a welcome break from the training.

So the show is tomorrow.

I should actually be in the swimming pool now with the rest of the team

but, as you can see, I'm filming.

I'm in Prague. I'm going to try and get in the swimming pool tonight

when I get back to the hotel. Fingers crossed.

But, until then, er-er-er-er-er...

Still got the old magic.

'Time to get back to the UK.

'If I'm lucky, my flight will be delayed

'and I won't be able to make the performance.

'Sadly, no such luck for me.'

So, my costume has just been dropped off.

Oh, hello.

Hello!

Look at that!

Look at that!

Oh, that is awesome.

'Time to head to Swansea for the big performance.

'Also, time to put those meat products in your hair.'

Anahat, I'm so nervous.

Do you know where you're supposed to be?

Well, I'm in the middle, drowning.

-Do you remember how to get into the circle?

-Yeah, yeah.

As long as you've got that, we're good to go.

I've been watching a video a little bit on the plane today.

I think you'll be fine. I think we can do it.

As long as we're all in time and we look like we know what we're doing,

-it's going to be fine.

-Great.

'Anahat, ever the optimist.

'Not like me.'

I can't remember any of this.

My mind has gone an absolute blank.

This is going to be a disaster.

'The routine is starting to get to me.

'The audience have begun to arrive for the performance -

'and then there's that costume.'

Look at it.

I mean, it's a cross between Slumdog Millionaire

and Rocky Balboa.

Plus those, right,

which are designed to hide my gut.

I'm not stupid, right. What they've done...

They've said that my shirt is lifting in rehearsal, OK,

so that you see my belly.

So they've put these...

They're between 15 and 20 kilos each,

to hold the shirt down.

I can barely sustain my own weight in the pool

so I'm thinking, right...

Oh! Whoops!

Look! Look at it!

People are laughing!

'Before I fall apart completely,

'here's Penny to try and get me back on track.'

-Have you got a last bit of advice?

-Remember to keep breathing,

because you're going to be nervous but you've got to keep breathing

otherwise your body will be exhausted.

It'll be that anyway.

I'm getting nervous for him now.

Now it's the time we've all been waiting for,

to see whether Wynne Evans will sink or swim with our 15-and-under team,

the blue and the black team.

'If I had 50 quid on it, it would be sink.

'There's no turning back now.'

MUSIC: Titli by Vishal-Shekhar

'Ah, wish I'd kept the weights on now.

'I'm beginning to think my stomach features more in this programme

'than I do.

'And again.

'I think I may be losing weight in that shot.

'Smile, big boy. Smile.

'I look quite relaxed there.

'Meanwhile, below the surface...

'Yeah, there it is again.

'Time for the backflip.

'No, no, hang on.

'That's forwards.

'Oh, I bottled it at the last moment.

'Still, he's none the wiser, is he?

'Now might be a good time to put the lifeguard on standby.

'Will this routine ever end?'

APPLAUSE

'I've made it to the end of the routine

'but it's taken its toll.'

That was so hard.

I got absolutely shattered halfway through.

Didn't manage the backflip.

Bit gutted about that.

Loved the first minute and a half of the routine,

thought, "Yeah, this is going quite well,

"getting all the moves in here,"

crowd were clapping.

It turned into a bit of a car crash after that

but I enjoyed it. I did enjoy it.

I really, really enjoyed it.

'While I quietly have a heart attack in the corner,

'it's time to find out

'what Holly and Penny thought of my performance.'

-Was it as hopeless as it felt?

-No, no, it was fine.

From the side here, it was good. It was good.

You know, you kept up with them. You held your own.

You've got to mark me out of 10 now, then.

You've only trained with us about three weeks in total

because you missed the last two sessions

and what you've actually managed in three weeks is unbelievable

and them girls put some really, really hard skills in there -

especially for somebody who'd never done the sport before,

so you've actually accomplished quite a lot.

-I think I'm going to go 6.5.

-Yeah, I was going to say 6.5-7.

Yeah. Yeah.

Not bad at all.

Superb! I was thinking 2.

Oh, thank you so much. I've really enjoyed it.

It's been the hardest thing I've ever done

and I can't tell you how nervous I was before I went in

but thank you. Thank you both.

-Good evening!

-Good evening!

Can I announce one thing?

It's going to be horrific news for the whole of Wales,

-I am retiring from synchronised swimming.

-Aw!

Yes, I know.

I know it's a blow to you all.

Have a fantastic evening! Goodnight!

I've got no control where I'm going!

Oh, now I look like a dirty old man!

TRAMPOLINE SNAPS