Swim England Artistic Swimming
Great Britain end European Junior Championships on a high
June 23, 2019Great Britain’s young synchronised swimmers ended the European Junior Championships on a high after securing another two personal bests in the Czech Republic.
Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe agonisingly missed out on a podium place for the second time in the competition as they took fourth spot in the duet free final.
And the free combination team set a new junior best as they took sixth spot in the final in Prague.
Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe: European Junior Championships 2019 Free DuetKate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe scored 84.9000 to finish fourth in the Free Duet at the 2019 European Junior Artistic Swimming Championships in Prague.1/7
Shortman and Thorpe, who also finished fourth in the duet technical final, scored 84.9000 – 2.1333 behind the bronze medallists of Mireia Hernandez and Irene Jimeno, from Spain, who finished on 87.0333.
Russia’s Kseniia Ladnaia and Elizaveta Minaeva were the gold medallists with an impressive total of 90.3667.
Karen Thorpe, Swim England National Synchro Manager, said: “What a way to finish the Junior European Championships.
“The duet stepped up to do a fantastic job in the final, improving synchronisation, height and the lifts as they finished fourth with a new personal best of 84.9000.”
Huge energy and presence
Meanwhile, the combination team of Shortman, Thorpe, Alyssa Basinger, Isobel Blinkhorn, Millicent Costello, Isobel Davies, Cerys Hughes, Cerys Larsen, Daniella Lloyd and Laura Turberville scored 81.7333 points.
Russia took the gold medal with a score of 91.8667 – 10.1334 ahead of the British team.
Karen added: “The combo team swam fifth out of 11 nations and set a new junior personal best.
“They had huge energy and presence throughout the performance and it was a great way to finish the competition.”
Shortman and Thorpe now have two days at home before they head to France for a six-day altitude training camp with their coaches in Les Deux Alpes.
After that, they will travel to Japan for six days of training before heading to Gwangju, South Korea, for the World Championships.
