Synchronised jargon?

A footnote in the Guardian today reads "The Eggbeater: a way of treading water that keeps the body high out of the water and lets the synchronised swimmer perform with her arms". Curiosity piqued, I needed to know more and trusty Google did not disappoint.

I was lead to a paper entitled The Technique of the Eggbeater Kick, written by Dr Marion Taylor and Ms Carolyn Taylor. It's wonderful and goes into the nitty gritty of the technique in a level of detail way beyond the wildest imaginations of my febrile mind. Consider the following paragraph:

"It is likely that propulsion in the Eggbeater is from a combination of both lift and drag components, as well as other possibilities such as Archimedes’ screw, a simple mechanical device believed to have been invented by Archimedes in the 3rd century B.C. It consists of a cylinder inside of which a continuous screw, extending the length of the cylinder, forms a spiral chamber. By placing the lower end in water and revolving the screw, water is raised to the top. The legs in the eggbeater kick resemble the rotational motion of Archimedes’ screw, and this motion may cause the water around the athlete to move upward in a circular pathway and provide some lift force to the swimmer as a result".

And I always thought that synchronised swimming was dull. Now I find that a PhD in Physics is an entry requirement. I think I might just take it up as a hobby as I really fancy a trip to Rio in 2016. But, to be realistic, perhaps I should be aiming for the Asynchronous Swimming Team to stand any chance of bringing home the Gold?