Photos by Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

Kris Olson will be a judge for synchronized swimming at the Beijing Olympics, which begins on Aug. 18.

Kris Olson participated in synchronized swimming as a teenager in Michigan and competed on a club team at Michigan State.

MONETA -- When you think of the upcoming Olympics, perhaps swimmer Michael Phelps comes to mind. Or maybe even Mike Krzyzewski, the coach of the U.S. men's basketball team.

But there will also be a variety of judges, referees and umpires in Beijing.

Kris Olson, who lives on Smith Mountain Lake, will be among them as one of 15 judges ruling over the synchronized swimming competition. This will be Olson's third Olympics, but her first as a judge.

"I've heard from other people that ... you sit down in that chair to begin judging and the whole Olympic experience kind of come homes to you," she said at her house recently. "It's going to be hard not to get swept up in the whole thing."

Olson has lived at the lake year-round since moving with her husband from Northern Virginia two years ago when they retired. They had lived part-time at the lake since 1975.

She attended the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 as a manager of one of the U.S. national synchronized swimming teams; it was not the Olympic squad.

In 2000, she was elevated to the manager of the U.S. Olympic synchronized swimming team in Sydney. She marched in the opening ceremonies and handled administrative tasks for the swimmers during the Olympics.

Some of her keepsakes from those Olympics are kept in a frame displayed in her home, including a photo of the U.S. team she managed; a ticket from the opening ceremonies; and 20 Olympic pins. She plans to add to her pin collection in Beijing. She leaves on Aug. 15, three days before the synchronized swimming competition begins.

Olson coached a youth team for a swimming club in Northern Virginia for many years and has moonlighted as a judge for national competitions since 1984.

After the 2000 Olympics, Olson was certified as an international judge.

United States Synchronized Swimming nominated two judges for the Beijing Olympics to FINA, swimming's international governing body.

Olson was selected for the Olympics by a 12-person FINA committee. The committee could only pick one judge per country, but no country was guaranteed a judging representative. United States Synchronized Swimming president Ginny Jasontek was a member of the FINA panel that selected Olson.

"She has an excellent eye for the sport," Jasontek said. "It's very important if you're going to be a FINA judge that you're fair, that you do not show bias. She's honest. She's fair. She's sharp and she's smart."

Olson recently turned 60, the maximum age for an international synchronized swimming judge. Olson will continue to judge U.S. competitions in the future, but the Olympics will be her international swan song.

"It's a nice way to go out," she said.

Olson began competing in synchronized swimming as a teenager in Michigan. She competed in both forms of swimming but developed a greater affinity for synchronized swimming and competed on the club team at Michigan State.

"I liked the precision," she said. "I liked the artistic expression that you have. I enjoyed swimming to music.

"I've always enjoyed dance and gymnastics, and this kind of culminated my love of swimming as well as the dance and gymnastics."

At the Olympics, there will be a duet competition featuring 24 nations and a team competition featuring eight countries.

Swimmers will be judged by a 10-person panel, with half the judges evaluating the technical merit -- including strokes, figures, the difficulty of the routine and the synchronization with teammates and the music -- and the rest of the panel judging the artistic aspects, such as the choreography and the interpretation of the music. The high and low scores will be thrown out.

"You want to keep as objective an eye as possible to make sure that you're not being overly swayed by your emotions," Olson said.

"You have to be ... very astute and ... make that judgment quickly," Jasontek said.

Olson will watch Friday's opening ceremonies at home. During the ceremonies, a judge from China will take the judge's oath on behalf of the officials of all the sports, and promise that "we shall officiate in these Olympic Games with complete impartiality."

"You want to make sure the standards you apply are the same across the board," she said. "You always have a soft spot in your heart for your home team, but when you're out there trying to evaluate and give a fair representation, ... it's not that difficult to divorce yourself from the strong emotional ties."

Russia, Spain, China and Japan are the top contenders for medals in synchronized swimming. Most of the synchronized swimming action will air on the cable channel Oxygen, but some will be shown on WSLS.