Shortman and Thorpe win bronze at the World Aquatics World Cup second leg

Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe won bronze in the Free Duet competition in the second leg of the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup.

The British duo were in competitive action for the first time this calendar year in Montpellier and they set an impressive score of 324.3958 points to take home the medal.

Performing their new routine, ‘The Rising Phoenix’, Shortman and Thorpe scored 85.9000 for artistic impression and 238.4958 for execution with the British team excelling in their first competition under the sports new scoring system.

They finished just behind the Japanese pair of Moe Higa and Mashiro Yasunaga who finished second on 334.0125 with the Ukrainian duo of Maryna Aleksiiva and Vladyslava Aleksiiva topping the standings with 370.2791.

Other than the Ukrainian pair, Shortman and Thorpe’s routine was the most difficult in the field which put them in a good position to move themselves into the medal positions.

On the opening day of the competition they also competed in the Technical Duet competition, where they finished sixth out of 25 entries with a score of 242.3042.

Shortman and Thorpe scored 79.0500 for artistic impression and 163.2542 for execution for their ‘Big Ben’ inspired routine.

Elsewhere, the Mixed Duet of Ranjuo Tomblin and Beatrice Crass also put in a strong performance as they got their competitive season underway.

In their first competition on senior stage, Tomblin and Crass finished sixth in the Mixed Duet Technical competition.

The teenage pair scored 165.7541 for their routine with 73.6000 for artistic impression and 92.1541 for execution.

The duo gained valuable experience out in France and will only get better as the season progresses.

Solo success

Shortman and Tomblin also impressed in their respective Technical Solo competitions as they both narrowly missed out on a medal.

They both finished fourth and were each less than 13 points off the final podium place.

Shortman scored 242.1042 in total that was 40 points off Japan’s Yukiko Inui gold medal winning score of 282.2583.

Completing the podium and finishing just ahead of Shortman was Ukraine’s Marta Fiedina with 282.2583 and Spain’s Iris Tio Casa who won bronze with 254.6542.

Tomblin also finished fourth after setting a total of 188.2292 after receiving 67.0000 for artistic impression and 121.2292 for execution for his routine.

Colombia’s Gustavo Sanchez was third with a total of 200.8833 with Fernando Diaz Del Rio Soto of Spain winning gold with 214.4959.

The British athletes will find out if their performances in France have been enough to qualify for the Super Final event in Spain at the start of June after the results of the third and final leg in Egypt from 13-15 May.

The focus for the British athletes then turns to the European Games at the end of June before July’s World Aquatics Championships in Japan.

You can see all the result from the Artistic Swimming World Cup event here.