Six members of a synchronized swim team wear earplugs to protect themselves against water pressure at depths, but they can still hear the music and perform the combinations in the water perfectly. One day, they were asked to leave the pool so the dive team could practice a few dives, and they tried to practice on a mat, but seemed to have a lot more difficulty. Why might this be

The sound travels differently in different medium according the density of the medium.

Explanation:

The sound travels faster in dense medium and can be heard by the vibration of the bone present in the ear. The ear plugs reduce the sound intensity in both medium water and on land (air).

In air the sound is not heard properly due to the earplugs that stops the as the vibration are not able to produce as sound is not able to reach to middle ear, but Navy researchers have discovered that sound under water is heard by the bone present behind the ear, vibrations mastoid.

they start with the same