Conversation Series Fall 2025 Sofa Issues
We Can’t Leave Each Other Behind
Clara Harlow with Suzy Messerole, Seniz Yargici and Sharon Mandel
“The communication that happens in the water is making me a better human being outside of the water.” – Suzy Messerole
In August of 2025, I found myself across the pond for the first time on a wedding trip of someone I didn’t know and whose wedding I didn’t attend. I learned early on that when someone invites you to come on a trip with them, you say yes and figure the rest out later. Much to my delight, there happened to be a show up at the Design Museum all about swimming. I’d been doing the bulk of my graduate work on the aesthetics and relationships of the swimming pool, so this felt like a serendipitous gift.
It was within the aqua walls of the Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style exhibition, where I first discovered the Subversive Sirens synchronized swimming team. I stood completely captivated by the imagery of all sorts of bodies in relationship to one another above and below the water’s surface in a short film made by artist Xiaolu Wang about the team. So naturally, the first thing I did when I got home from London was cold email them to learn more about what they were reenvisioning together in the pool.
The Subversive Sirens is not like any synchronized swimming team. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the team is made up of folks of all backgrounds who have come together around their passion for swimming, activism, and how these two can intersect. They swim for Black liberation, equity in swimming and aquatic arts, radical body acceptance, and queer visibility. Every Saturday morning the team gathers in 4 lanes at the Phillips Aquatic Center, which is part of the Phillips Community Center, in the heart of Minneapolis. Although they spend this time swimming and rehearsing for the annual IGLA Aquatics Championship or the Gay Games that happen every 4 years, they see this time as a regular act of collective care and rejuvenation. This fall I had the pleasure of sitting down with Subversive Sirens members Suzy Messserole, Seniz Yargici, and Sharon Mandel to learn more about what we can do in the water that we can’t do on land and what we can do together that we can’t do alone.
Clara: As a former competitive swimmer, the pool has always held this tension for me in being both a site for competition and camaraderie. A site of individual striving and profound teamwork. I’m wondering if that friction comes up in synchronized swimming and how you make sense of that as a team?
Sharon: I haven’t competed yet, but I’m thinking about freedom and expression in the water as individuals, and how that works as a team. And that’s a really interesting thing for me. I’m the newest on the team, and I think it’s a really interesting challenge to be free and creative, and also do all the technical aspects that it takes to perform as a team. So there’s the creativity part, and then there’s the kicking someone and getting water up the nose part, so it’s a real combination of learning skills and still being creative and being yourself while doing what’s needed to create something with a team. There’s no riffing in Synchro. And our spacing is supposed to be very close together. Synchronized. So the technical aspect does outweigh creativity during the practices, I think. I don’t know if it outweighs fun, but it is a lot of hard work, too.
Clara: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I’m curious if you could talk more about how you guys are thinking about the liberatory potential of the pool space?
Sharon: I think just being there, in our bathing suits, in our bodies, which are bigger and different-shaped. That, right there, is giving maybe some hope for others that it’s okay to be in whatever suit you are, in whatever body you are, and to feel comfortable. I think a big part of our liberation politics is encouraging people to really feel okay about who they are, and to enjoy the water doing that if they wish.
Suzy: I think that’s beautiful, Sharon. I also think that our priority is the seven of us. Well, the eight of us with our coach. And, in doing so, I think we are setting an example for communal care, for setting time aside for your own rejuvenation, so that you can go out back out into the world and be a better participant in the journey to justice.
But as Sharon said, the little kids come and watch us do the routines. You know, I’m one of the white members, but most of the members are Black. Many of us are bigger-bodied and we bring the joy wherever we go. We are so happy to be together in the water, in our swimsuits, to the best of our ability.
Sharon: Two of the members of our team are directors of theater programs, too, and I think that has an influence. Signy, who’s not here, but is one of the co-founders of the team, is very vivacious with her face, with her body gestures, with how she interacts with people. It’s got a theatrical feel to it, so when the Sirens show up, it’s got a zing to it.
Seniz: That’s a vibe, for sure.
Suzy: And I also think, you know, some of the most fun I’ve had in a pool has just been something free, intergenerational, and you get a DJ in a pool.
Clara: You’re so right about that. It reminds me of going to water aerobics classes with my mom. She goes every day, so me and my sisters will go with her whenever we’re back in Omaha. And there’s just something about it. You just can’t not be smiling and joking around, and laughing. Like, it really brings me back to a feeling of being 10 years old and goofing off together. It’s fun to do that with other people in your adulthood, to witness each other in that joy at, like, 6 AM, you know?
Seniz: It’s so true. I’m a youth worker by trade, and I think the reason I love being around kids and watching them play is that it’s just, like, humanness in the purest form, and we lose that sense of play as we get older, and we actually have to work toward that play over and over again. And I do feel like water is a really fast train to feeling young again. Like being in the water is a sensory thing, right? Just poof, it brings you right back to that feeling of being a kid and freedom.
Sharon: I think too that, you know, it’s a process to accept your body in this world as anybody. It’s a process to accept yourself, and water provides a little cover for that. So, I often hear in the water aerobics class that I go to, which has you know, music, intergenerational, and swimming, that people are comfortable because you can modify your style of exercise, and people don’t even know it, because it’s covered by the water. So, everybody’s still getting exercise, the water provides for everyone. You don’t have to be in a gym with everybody looking at you. You know?
Clara: Speaking of the water providing for everyone, I’m curious if you could talk a bit about the public events y’all host for folks to get to try out these synchro techniques and skills. How do you make it accessible to a public audience?
Suzy: For Learn to Synchro we all start in the shallow end with the real basics, like just floating. And then we teach how to skull moving backwards, and then skull moving with your feet first, and then there’s a few really fun things that are easy. We always do a splash mob, that is like a flash mob, but it’s in the shallow end, so people are standing there to dance. The splash mobs are so darn fun. What were they like for you two?
Seniz: I felt really trusting that these people know what they’re doing. I mean, we all know this, all four of us here right now, what it’s like being in a pool with other people, and doing a thing together. It’s like we’re sharing an environment in a way that we normally wouldn’t. It’s like we’re being held all together in this thing, and we’re changing it and moving it, and it’s not something that we get to do often, and I think that’s what’s really special about it. It’s like, we can be artists, we can be swimmers, but creating a thing together in water just has a different vibration. You know? So I think what’s really cool about those big events is inviting people into our vibrations.
Sharon: I would also add that we always do an introduction of ourselves about how the team is connected to human rights and justice and body positivity. So that’s a big part of our events, too, and there’s a real sense of pumping up the audience to feel comfortable, to be excited, to feel good in their bodies, to feel good in their bathing suits, and to have a really good time. And then we have a good sound system, and underwater speakers that are really exciting and fun for everybody. So, that’s another component that really adds a lot of liveliness to it.
Seniz: Oh, I also think the detail of providing nose plugs and goggles for those who need them, and noodles for people, and swim caps even is important too.
Suzy: And that is really important, because there are so many people in our community that haven’t had access to pools. If they do have access to pools, they have been policed at pools, they have been harassed at pools, they don’t feel comfortable at them, you know what I mean? Like, there are a lot of people in our community that need the extra welcome, to feel even comfortable enough to walk in the door, right? Like, we are at the door welcoming people. Because this site, which is so joyful and playful and amazing for me, has been a place of oppression for other people. And Minnesota has the highest percentage of drownings for kids of color in the country.
Sharon: We practice at the Philips Aquatic Center Pool, and that pool took many years and much work to open, just for the reason that Susie was talking about. I’d like to add that the Splash Mob events also invite people of all ages who are interested in synchronized swimming, which is how I got to know about the team. I was 40-something when I heard about… well, let’s be honest, I guess I was 50-something. And I had asked lifeguards and people all over, and looked online and tried to find something, but the teams for synchronized swimming were mostly young white girls, and I couldn’t find any team that I could really fit in on. But, I found out about the Sirens through a lifeguard at another pool where elder synchronized swimmers swim, and I got to participate in a splash mob that way. It was hard to find a synchronized swim team to practice with. We are it.
Suzy: And I think, Sharon, what you said earlier about our connection to social justice and human rights is that we are much more a liberation collective than a synchronized swimming team. Like, we don’t have open auditions every year. If people are interested, we go out for coffee with them, we talk to them about their life, and then we invite them to do Saturday swims with us, and just swim with us for a while, and see if it’s a fit. Because we really are rooted in using Synchro as a communal care for activists, but also as a liberation practice. And you could be the best, most amazing, artistic swimmer, but if you’re not rooted in liberation practices, then this isn’t the formation, right?
Clara: Yeah, it seems like your values really lead. I’m curious what surprised you guys the most about being a part of this team?
Seniz: I mean, honestly, it’s the skill and athleticism required to do this kind of swimming.
Suzy: Yeah, I think one of the things that has surprised me the most is the level of communication that occurs in water, that water radiates the communication back and forth between people. You know, when you are upside down and trying to count and do all of these moves and hold your breath and keep yourself up. Keep your periphery vision open to everyone, and where you are in a form, and keep a form. It really, for me, has made me a better person in movement work because I am practicing liberation in the water, in a method in which you can’t leave anyone behind. Right? Because you’re trying to synchronize, and you are practicing being uncomfortable.
As a white activist in the Movement for Liberation, everything is built for my comfort, and being uncomfortable in the water has really helped me. My duet partner, Signe Harriday, is just a stronger swimmer than me. Like, I didn’t grow up in a town large enough to have a swim team. I didn’t compete in swimming. And so there have been duets in the past where it has taken me 3 months to learn a move that she can do. And so, it’s like, I’m gonna stick with this, I can try and stretch, I can try and grow, I can try and see if I can get this, and then if I can’t, I know that she’ll adjust. It’s hard to explain, but the communication that happens in the water is making me a better human being outside of the water.
Seniz: For sure. I feel like what you said—we can’t leave each other behind—it’s that piece of being in tight formation, trying to keep up with who we can see, and also allowing the next person to keep up with us. And I do feel like for me, and I’m not successful at this 90% of the time, but it’s a practice of continually opening that awareness and that way of remembering with all of the variables happening, which is life, right? All of the variables happening, and I’m checking in, I’m checking in, I’m checking in all around me.
Clara: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I think that way of de-centering the self allows you to sort of be in relationship with each other in a different way. Being a part of a whole, moving together, making little adjustments as you go along, it can be such a transformative experience. I feel that in the classroom often too, that way of being responsive and getting to be a part of something larger together.
Seniz: Something that is worth mentioning, too, is that our bodies are so different from each other’s, and we all have different ways of moving in the water, so it’s a very physical manifestation of coming from different places, you know? And so being aware of each other’s bodies and movement, and we’re all different heights, we’re all different sizes, so we truly are all moving as one. We all have to do totally different placements for different skills to achieve the same effect, and so there’s a lot happening underwater that might be different from each other that creates an effect outside of the water that is similar.
Clara: Yeah, that’s a really powerful metaphor, I think.
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The Subversive Sirens members are Tana Hargest, Signe Harriday, Zoe Holloman, Sharon Mandel, Suzy Messerole, Roxanne Prichard, Seniz Yargici, and their coach Ana Mendoza Packham.
Suzy Messerole (she/her) is a theater artist, activist & lover of water. She is the Co-Artistic Director of Exposed Brick Theatre whose mission is to tell untold stories, center omitted narratives & create art at the intersection of identities. In theater, she works as a director, particularly for new plays, as well as an Intimacy Director. She is also a lead organizer with the Million Artist Movement, a global vision and movement that believes in the role of ART in the campaign to dismantle oppressive racist systems. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her wife & daughter.
Seniz Yargici (she/her) is a youth advocate, artist, and play-centered experience creator whose work is rooted in creativity, connection, and community. She’s a parent, a lover, and a cancer-surviving one-tit wonder. Şeniz is the founder of OYNA: Family Wellness through Play (oynatoday.com) and is currently an Experience Developer at the Minnesota Children’s Museum (MCM.org). Şeniz performs long-form narrative improv, loves to play guitar and sing, is deep into an epic D&D campaign with her junior high pals, and cherishes time with her two hilarious teenagers, magnetic partner, and extended family.
Sharon Mandel (she/her) is the newest member of the Subversive Sirens. She was adopted and grew up in the Twin Cities. She’s an educator, union organizer, tuba player, single mom, survivor of severe abuse, cancer survivor, and advocate for the homeless and all oppressed.
Clara Harlow (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist and educator interested in the question of how we can make today different than yesterday. Her work operates as an invitation into themes of celebration, exchange, and alternative ways of measuring time and value. Through unconventional parties, workshops, and interactive objects, Clara is invested in how we can turn the dilemmas of the everyday into an opportunity for experimental problem solving and collective delight. Her practice aims to create responsive public containers for unexpected joy and connection, but if she can just get you to forget about your To Do list for a little while, that’s pretty good too.