Kate Shortman reaches second final of FINA World Championships

Kate Shortman has reached her second solo final of the 2019 FINA World Championships.

She qualified in 11th place in the solo free preliminary round at the Yeomju Gymnasium, Gwangju, Korea, with a score of 84.6000.

It was outside the personal best of 85.9000 she set in the solo free final at the recent European Junior Championships in Prague, which earned her a fifth-placed finish.

But Shortman will be full of confidence going into the final following a fantastic few months which has seen her win two bronze medals in the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series and also finish in the top 10 of the solo technical final at the World Championships.

Shortman will now be looking to better her performance in the 2017 World Championships in Budapest when she competes in the solo final on Wednesday 17 July.

Two years ago, at her maiden World Championships, she finished 12th in the sole free final with a total of 82.3667.

Karen Thorpe, Swim England National Synchro Manager, said: “Kate swam really well and gave it everything.

“She is really happy and fired up to see if she can finish in the top 10 like the solo technical final.”

Duet back in action

Before the solo final, however, Shortman will be focusing on the duet free competition with Isabelle Thorpe.

The duo are in action in the preliminary round on Tuesday 16 July and will be bidding to replicate their performance in the final of the European Junior Championships when they set a new personal best of 84.9000 on their way to fourth place.

Earlier in the week, Shortman and Thorpe impressed in the preliminary round of the duet technical competition but missed out on a final spot by 0.8711 after finishing in 14th place.