Swim England Artistic Swimming

The home of artistic swimming in England

Disappointed duet say Olympic Games postponement was right decision

Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe have expressed their disappointment at the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games – but say they completely back the decision.

The British Artistic Swimming duet were aiming to qualify for the Games for the first time in their careers.

But with the world aiming to combat the spread of coronavirus, first the qualifying competition in Tokyo and then the Olympics themselves were put on hold.

Shortman and Thorpe have now set their sights on next year and making an even bigger impact on the world stage.

They said: “We are obviously disappointed about the Olympic Games being moved but completely understand.

“Our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by coronavirus and those working hard to treat people around the world – there are more important things to focus on at this time rather than the Olympic Games.

“It was the right decision to make but we’ll look to come back even stronger in 2021.

“We’ll use this time to gear ourselves up to reach a higher goal than we had previously set. We are working on our weaknesses and are anxious to get back to it.

“Our plans for next year have changed but Clifton High School has agreed to continue to support us with its facilities and are right behind us.

“We’d like to thank everyone for their continued support.”

Karen Thorpe, Swim England Artistic Swimming Manager, added: “This announcement didn’t come as any surprise.

“Everyone’s plans have been disrupted but the most important thing is the health and fitness of people globally – and the athletes, volunteers and spectators who would be at the Games.

“We are taking this time to reflect on our training and competition practises and goals to develop a better, stronger system to aid us once we are back in the pool.”

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