GB duet 'left everything in the pool' after another standout performance

The Team GB artistic swimming duet of Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe ‘left everything in the pool’ as they contested the duet technical routine with another fantastic performance.

The pair scored 25.000 for execution, 33.7333 for artistic impression and 25.5000 for difficulty, giving them a combined total of 85.1458 points.

Paired with yesterday’s free routine, they scored 169.8881 overall and finished in 14th position at their maiden Olympic Games.

The top 12 teams progress to the final which means Isabelle and Kate’s Olympic journey ends here. Speaking after their performance, Shortman said:

“Honestly it’s such an emotional performance. Obviously, we did the free yesterday and we finished it with tech today. We went out and left everything in the pool and gave it everything we could.

“We’re super happy with both our swims. It’s just an amazing feeling really, there are no words to sum up the journey and how this has just been the cherry on top.”

‘We hope youngsters feel inspired’

Thorpe explained how the pair swim best when they enjoy their routine, just as they did today, saying:

“This is the most important competition. For us, the Olympics is a massive competition but we’ve really enjoyed it, it’s a really special thing and I think we should carry that through to other competitions and really enjoy swimming because it obviously shows in our routines.

“It shows to the judges when we enjoy it and like Kate said, we did really well in our tech today – we got a better score in our tech than our free which is a bit unheard of but it shows we have been working a lot on our elements in our technical routine so that’s really good.”

The pair have been inundated with messages of support and good luck, and are ‘looking forward’ to reading them all now that their Tokyo campaign has come to a close.

“We were trying to just focus and really concentrate on our performances so we haven’t been reading too much into the messages,” said Shortman.

“It is amazing to have the support, especially with there being no crowd here it’s a bit strange because usually there is a massive buzz and ambience at a synchro competition.

“We’ve done great, everyone’s sent amazing messages and we’re really excited to go on our phones and look at them now.”

Thorpe added an important message that the young athletes feel passionate about as she said they hope young people are ‘feeling inspired’ after watching the Olympics this year.

“I hope it inspires young girls to get into, whether it be artistic swimming or another sport, just watching the Olympics and feeling inspired to get into sport.

“We like to say, as many people do, that sport is really important for everyone and we think as many young people, especially girls, should get into it.

“It’s so important for your mental health, as well as your physical health and a lot of us, have experienced that throughout lockdown – struggling mentally and physically without sport and I would advise any young children to get into it.

“Synchro is for boys and girls, it’s open to everyone.”