On Aug. 13, McFall, Lowe and their teammates will enter the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece, to complete their own odyssey—to return U.S. synchronized swimming to the medal podium and bring gold back home to the South Bay.

"We're definitely going for it," Lowe said. "We're not going to put any limits on ourselves."

In the 2000 Summer Games, the U.S. team took fifth place in Sydney, Australia, after winning gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. But since the team began forming almost two years ago, it has risen from fifth in the world to third, behind Japan and Russia.

"People always say that if there's a sport to bet on, it's synchro, because there isn't much change," McFall said. "But if there's going to be an upset, it's going to be at the Olympics. If we can win over that audience, we can do it."

One advantage the team has over other U.S. Olympic squads is that its members have been practicing together on their routine for almost a year now. They've had time to bond, make reservations in Athens and prepare for the upcoming games. In contrast, the speed swimmers finished their Olympic trials in mid-July, meaning they had less than a month to form relay teams, meet their teammates and make arrangements.

But while they haven't had the pressure of Olympic trials, the women of the synchro team have been just as busy. Their qualifiers were held in April in Athens, and they've been in high gear since.

The team has been flying around the country lately, performing on The Late Show with David Letterman, swimming with ducks in Aflac commercials and swimming in exhibitions—including two at the Santa Clara International Swim Center on July 10 and 11.

"It's great experience for our team, because the more you perform in front of an audience, in full makeup, the better we get," Lowe said.

On practice days, the team has been pulling 11­12 hours of work, starting with weights in the morning before 10 hours in the pool, practicing a three-minute technical routine and four-minute free routine.

Lowe is confident in the team's chances in Athens, because she said the team members have the right combination of honed talent and the love of performance needed for success.

But with all the exhibitions, shows and commercials done, it's time for the team to work. They leave for Athens on Aug. 5, to train for a week at the American College of Greece with the rest of the U.S. athletes. Competitions for the two routines—free and technical—are on Aug. 26 and 27.

And with competition less than a month away, both women still say they aren't nervous.

"I don't think I know to be nervous; because I've never been to an Olympics, I don't know what it's going to be like," McFall said. "It's the biggest event in the world, but it's the same teams we've been swimming against."

Looking ahead, McFall and Lowe both said they're most excited about walking into opening ceremonies with the world's best amateur athletes. They'll both be wearing necklaces given to them by their coach, former Sunnyvale resident Chris Carver. Each is inscribed with a letter representing the athlete's contribution to the team and ultimately spelling out "Champion." McFall wears the "C" for confidence and Lowe wears an "A" for ability.

"It's kind of weird, you train all the time for this, and it always seems so far away, but then it comes up on you so fast," Lowe said.

For a complete television schedule of the games—including times for duet and team synchronized events—visit www.nbcolympics.com. For more on the athletes, visit www.usasynchro.org.