TEAM GB’s artistic swimmer Kate Shortman has stressed just how hard the sport is ahead of her bid for Olympic gold.
Shortman, 22, explained that fans watching from home shouldn’t be fooled by the big smile on her face while she’s competing – saying that it’s just a way of getting through the pain.
Artistic swimming looks superb from the stands as athletes hit every move to perfection and glide through the water in a glamorous outfit.
But under the surface if a gruelling sport that is both a mental and physical battle.
Shortman said: “I can’t stress how hard the sport is.
“Because it’s so glamorous, we’ve got our costumes on, it’s a distraction from the fact that this is a really, really hard sport.”
She added: “We’re supposed to be smiling so you can’t see the pain.
“The smile is fake.”
Artistic swimming training is brutally, physical hard work – 40 hours a week or more of gymnastics, yoga, gym work, video analysis and even apnea training, literally improving holding their breath.
It is a key part of success, with athletes required to be able to hold their breath underwater for up to three minutes, the length of routines – much of which are completed beneath the surface.
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But things being hard won’t stop Shortman from achieving her dream of winning gold this summer in Paris.
She explained: “Is the ambition to win gold? Absolutely!
“I think before Olympic gold almost seemed unattainable. It was more of a dream than a goal.
“Now, we’ve got our sights firmly set on it and we’re working as hard as possible to achieve it.”
Shortman won’t be competing by herself, but instead in a duo with close friend Izzy Thorpe.
There’s something almost inevitable about the pair succeeding with a touching story behind their partnership in the pool.
The Bristol duo were both born in 2001, nearly two decades after their mums competed together as artistic swimmers.
Maria Shortman and Karen Thorpe missed out on qualification for the 1996 Olympics when the IOC dropped the artistic swimming duet and solo categories for the eight-woman competition and Team GB did not make it in.
By the time the duet event returned for Sydney 2000, Shortman Sr and Thorpe Sr’s moment had gone.
The Shortman and Thorpe families, though, remain as tight as ever all these years later – not just because they regularly pop round to each others’ houses for dinner and have the same breed of dog.
But now Maria and Karen’s daughters are quite literally following in their footsteps.
