Duet receive continued funding to help realise Tokyo Olympic Games dream

Artistic swimming duet Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe have received continued funding from UK Sport to help them realise their Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games dream.

However, British Swimming’s application for direct investment for the sport for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games cycle has been unsuccessful.

A British Swimming statement said: “Today British Swimming received feedback from UK Sport on its application for progression sport funding for artistic swimming for the next quadrennial.

“We are pleased that the continued progress of our duet of Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe has been recognised with the award of continued funding to support them in their preparations for Tokyo.

Making an impact

“We would like to thank UK Sport for this support and their demonstration of confidence in the duet, who have shown rapid progress over the last two years, already making an impact on the world stage.

“Unfortunately our sport was not successful in obtaining direct investment for the Paris cycle, which is very disappointing news for everyone involved, in particular our athletes and our stakeholders.

“That being said, UK Sport has recognised the significant progress made to date in artistic swimming and we have been made aware that there is likely to be some future funding support for sports in our position.

“We believe that the work done to date will put us in a strong position to successfully apply for this in due course.”