Kate Shortman scores personal best to reach European final

Kate Shortman scored a new personal best as she reached the Free Solo final at the Glasgow 2018 European Championships.

The 16-year old scored 84.2000 for her routine at Scotstoun, easing into Tuesday’s final in ninth.

Shortman has been one of the up-and-coming stars of international synchronised swimming, reaching the World Championship final at her first attempt in Budapest 12 months ago.

She has continued to shine in the individual event this season, finishing sixth in the Free Solo at the European Junior Championships, then ninth at the World Junior Championships less than three weeks ago.

But the City of Bristol swimmer has raised her level again in Scotland, scoring nearly two points more than her 82.3667 from the World Championship final 12 months ago.

Young squad improve to seventh in Free Combination

There was more success in the Free Combination event, as Great Britain’s young squad finished seventh.

The team of Shortman, Millicent Costello, Greta Hampson, Cerys Larsen, Daniella Lloyd, Daisy Rushton, Harriette Smith, Abigail Taylor, Isabelle Thorpe and Victoria Usher have been competing their ‘spiders’ routine throughout the season, securing top 10 finishes at both the European and World Junior Championships.

But they saved their best performance for home soil, scoring 81.3667 to improve on eighth place finishes for GB at the past two European Championships.

“The Spider combo swam incredible well, improving on our score at World Juniors by a mark,” said Swim England Synchro manager Karen Thorpe.

“The combo has such a strong theme and it’s so distinctive with our spider hats.

“The choreography is new and modern so it flows really well and we all wanted to show that even though we’re a junior team, we can swim with the seniors.

“Kate also had a fantastic swim today. She was really fighting and swam her heart out and we can’t wait for the final on Tuesday afternoon.”

• Head to MicroPlus Timing to view full results from Glasgow.