Team GB have never come close to an artistic swimming medal. But at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, two-time Olympians Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe are believing in the possibility of a podium finish.

The pair made their artistic swimming Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 where they finished in 14th. Now, with Olympic experience on their side, the Bristol-born pair are trailblazing the way for Great Britain within the artistic swimming space. As Team GB’s chef de mission Mark England puts it: “They are pioneers.”

Despite Team GB’s poor history in the Olympic discipline, Shortman and Thorpe’s medal-winning performance at the World Championships in January woke the world to their potential. The pair met at school in Bristol and have been swimming together since. Both born in 2001, they have previously said how much they feel like sisters. With their similar blonde hair, matching Olympic tattoos and telepathic-like performances, you can see why.

“We finish each other’s sentences, wear the same clothes, put our hair the same,” said Thorpe.

Artistic Swimming: More Than Just Grace and Beauty

Artistic swimming is judged upon execution, artistic impression and precision. What is often made to appear as effortless can require the most gruelling of training regimes consisting of yoga, weights, swimming, dance and apnea training, which is commonly used by freedivers. As a result, Shortman and Thorpe can both hold their breath underwater for three minutes - a skill talent when you realize just how little opportunity there is to come up for air during a routine.

Breaking Barriers in a Dominated Discipline

The Olympic artistic swimming scene has long been dominated by teams from the People’s Republic of China, Russia, the USA and Japan. As a result, artistic swimmers in Great Britain have often lacked funding and the extra support needed for an Olympic Games campaign. Nevertheless, Shortman and Thorpe’s spark for the sport has never gone out.

“I’ve always seen the potential,” said Izzy’s mum Karen, who is also a former artistic swimmer and now the manager of the sport at UK Aquatics. “They have also supported themselves with jobs: coaching, going around to some of the clubs – a £100 here and there – often when they should be resting, on top of going to university and training full-time as well. It has been really tough for them but they have never lost the passion.”

In preparation for Paris, the pair have been working with Japanese coach Yumiko Tomomatsu, who they say has “taught [them] so many things in life”. Given Great Britain’s history in the discipline, there is no doubt that a podium finish for Shortman and Thorpe is a long shot - but what gives them hope is their determination and drive to write themselves into Olympic history.

Shortman said: “Gold was once more of a dream than a goal, but we have now got our sights firmly set on it - absolutely.”

A Medal For the Whole Sport

With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games underway, we’re taking a closer look at the some of the English athletes that will be competing in the French capital. Artistic swimming star, Isabelle Thorpe, is hoping that her performances at Paris 2024 – alongside duet partner Kate Shortman – will help raise the profile of the sport across the UK.

The pair have to wait until the final few days of the Games to take to the water and go into their second Olympics targeting a medal not just for themselves but for the entire artistic swimming community. Speaking on her hopes for the Games, Thorpe said: “Obviously Paris is a big one compared to Tokyo for us, because I think in Tokyo we were kind of just going into it and enjoying the experience but now we’re here in Paris and we really mean business.

“We’re hoping for a medal, going for gold, so we’re just trying to train and make every session count so we know that when we swim we just leave everything in the pool and know that we’ve done the best we can.

“And winning a medal at the Olympics would be incredible for not just us, but for the whole of the sport. Hopefully it would raise the profile of it for girls and boys in the country and just create a bigger platform. We just want to get lots of people involved and show that it is possible for Great Britain to be getting medals in artistic swimming.”

Thorpe and Shortman left their maiden Games in Japan with a 14th place finish but headed to France full of confidence after a string of historic performances across the past 18 months. The duet, who qualified after winning silver and a bronze at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha in February, also won bronze for Team GB at the European Games in Poland last year. They then topped the podium at the World Aquatics World Cup in May – which was an Olympic test event – and Thorpe is excited about the prospect of returning to the brand new Olympic Aquatic Centre for a first Olympic appearance with her friends and family in the stands.

“It’s really exciting thinking that there’s going to be a crowd and we’re going to have friends and family there watching this time. I’m looking forward to having all my family in Paris and hopefully because we swam in the pool already and got that experience it won’t be too overwhelming. We know the feeling of it now, and I think it’s going to be really nice atmosphere having everyone there, so I’m really excited for that.

“Everyone was super proud and pleased (when they qualified). We qualified when we were in Doha and some of my family actually came out to watch so that was also really nice to have them there for that moment when and we managed to win a medal there too. So it was just really nice having them there and all their endless support is just incredible. I couldn’t have done it without them so it was good just to have them there in that moment.”

Shortman and Thorpe have been competing together since they were eight years old and their success has already helped inspire a number of youngsters within the sport. The pair and the whole British team have thrived following the sports recent rule changes, highlighted by the team’s most successful European Championships in June. It’s something that Thorpe says was incredible for British artistic swimming and is thankful for the team behind her as she approaches her second Games.

“It was just incredible for British artistic swimming. It was really nice having a whole team there, the mixed duet there. I think we entered in nine events – which was like pretty big for us – and we came away with seven medals out of the nine so we were so over the moon not just for the us but for the team getting a bronze, for Ranjuo (Tomblin) getting his gold medal, and every everything that happened. Not just us athletes but all of the coaches and the hard work behind the scenes and everything gets the recognition it deserves because I’m really proud of everyone and how far we’ve come.”

You can watch Thorpe in action alongside Shortman on Friday evening for the free routine and Saturday evening for the technical routine. Both events will get underway at 6:30pm with the scores being combined to decide who goes away with the medals. You can find all the details on how to watch every event at the Olympic Games here.