SYNCHRO JUNIORS SHOW PROMISE IN EUROPE
Britain's young synchro swimmers have taken their first steps
on the road to 2012 with promising results at the European
Junior Synchronised Swimming Championships in Germany.
The ten-strong team, many of whom have not experienced this
level of international competition before, faced tough opposition
with five of the countries competing ranked top eight in the
world.
With little time to relax or perfect their routines following
the Commonwealth Games, silver medallist Jenna Randall and
duet partner Olivia Allison (both Rushmoor) put in strong
performances to progress to the finals.
In the solo event, Randall improved on her position after
the first rounds to finish ninth overall with 83.200 points.
Russia's Anna Udovik won gold with 94.100 points, while Ona
Carbonell of Spain and Natalia Anthopoulou of Greece took
silver and bronze with 91.800 and 91.600 points respectively.
Strong competition in the duet and team events meant the
British teams were unable to improve their ranking in the
finals, but both met their pre-competition target to finished
in tenth position. The duet of Randall and Allison managed
to keep a Czechoslovakian challenge at bay for 82.300 points
and the ten-strong British team notched up 82.800 points.
National Performance Director Adele Carlsen was encouraged
by the team's results.
"The girls picked up some good scores and I'm really
pleased with the performance in the duet," she said.
"Jenna and Olivia stayed strong to keep ahead of the
Czechs and they were close to beating the Dutch, who have
been quite a way ahead of us for a number of years.
"It's been a big learning curve for everyone and the
team has come away inspired and knowing what they need to
do to pull themselves up the rankings.
"Europe is a real stronghold for synchro, so it was
a great opportunity for the British squad to compete against
some of the best in the world.
"The next step is the Junior World Championships which
we hope to compete in this October after the arrival of our
new Performance Director."
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