Rugby and Great Britain's Eve Young takes Technical Solo national crown

Rugby Artistic Swimming Club’s Eve Young claimed both the Senior and Junior Technical Solo titles at the GoCardless Swim England Artistic Swimming National Championships 2024.

She becomes national solo champion for the first time, finishing just over two points ahead of Aimee Lawrence to take the senior crown.

It means that the Great Britain junior athlete continues her fine form in 2024 which included a senior international debut at the World Aquatics World Cup in China last week.

Speaking after her win, Young said: “It’s amazing.

“I’ve been training really hard on my solo for quite a while so it’s great to see that all that has payed off today.”

Young scored a total 170.6833 for her routine which broken down scored 82.1000 for artistic impression and 88.5833 for elements.

It’s been a busy opening day for the Rugby swimmer who has also taken part in two showcase performances alongside her duet partner Florence Blinkhorn to help the young GB duet prepare for the second leg of the World Aquatics World Cup in Paris next weekend.

The pair are targeting the Junior World Championships later this year and has said that her swims in Nottingham have made the perfect preparation for their trip to Paris.

“We’ve just swam our free and technical duet which will give us great final preparations for the World Cup in Paris next week.

“When you have multiple swims in a day it’s important to make sure that after each swim you’ve cooled down properly, recovering properly and keep fuelling yourself. You’ve also got to make sure you don’t rest for too long and let your muscles seize up but it’s really helping me improve and reach the level that I want to get to.”

Salford Synchronised Swimming Club’s Lawrence was second in the senior event with a score of 168.133 with City of Birmingham’s Magdelena Townsend in third.

Townsend who became a double champion at the National Age Group Championships added senior bronze and junior silver thanks to her routine score of 155.7667.

Salford were once again on the podium in the junior event with Sophie Rowney winning bronze, finishing narrowly behind Townsend with a total of 154.3267.

Reading win first ever national acrobatic routine title

Reading Royals won the first ever Acrobatic Routine title at the GoCardless Swim England National Championships 2024.

The event, which will also make its Olympic debut at the Games in Paris this summer, showcases the spectacular gymnastic ability from teams of up to ten athletes.

Of the ten teams it was Reading who came out on top to become the inaugural champions as they continue their domination in the team events at the competition.

Reading’s team were the only ones to break the 100 point mark with a total of 100.0100 for a routine which received just one base mark.

The team of Amy Wilson, Beatrice Askar, Cara Zeidler, Francesca Pringle, Holly Hughes, Jessica Hinxman, Lily Halasi and Naomi Morgan earnt 58.1000 for artistic impression and 41.9100 for their elements in a strong display.

Elizabeth Cox and Eloise Hackett were also in reserve for the club who won both the free and technical team events in 2023.

Later on this afternoon they’ll defend their free team title as they look to take the first step towards defending the coverted Redwood Trophy.

Salford Synchronised Swimming Club ran them close, finishing less than 1.5 points behind the South East based side.

Their contingent of Caitlyn Brook, Eva Lawrence, Libby Taylor, Lotti Horsman, Neve Lambert, Sophie Fleming, Sophie Rowney and Zoe Taylor scored a total of 98.6100 with 42.8100 for elements and 53.9000 for artistic impression.

City of Bristol rounded out the podium with a score of 83.2333. Their team was made up of Alysia Garrett, Katherine Boitsidis, Molly Hussey, Naelle Winship, Neve Harrison, Nia Rushton, Pia Lanham, Robyn Ashworth with Amelie Williams and Marie-Ange Siegfried in reserve.

Aqualina duo go back-to-back

The Technical Mixed Duet competition saw the Aqualina duo of Maxwell Sewell and Kiarra Janikova take back-to-back titles in the event.

The pair who have represented Great Britain at World Aquatics Youth Artistic Swimming Championships improved on their score from 2023.

This time around they faced the new scoring system which has been integrated throughout the Championships for the first time and earnt 117.4650 for their routine.

Sewell and Janikova were awarded 75.8000 for impression and 41.6650 for their elements as they took away both the junior and senior titles.

You can find all the scores from the GoCardless Swim England Artistic Swimming National Championships 2024 here.

Images: Will Johnston Photography