Paging Buzby Berkeley, Mr. Berkeley To The Red Phone...

Can there be anything more decadently western, more American, even, than synchronized swimming?

These women are tremendous athletes, no doubt, though the event itself is even less a sport (and more a contest) than gymnastics.

But the suits, the makeup, the smiles evokes nothing so much as Busby Berkeley and his "Gold Diggers" movies. There's something poetic about the Russians and Chinese doing so well in it.