Great Britain\u2019s previous best finish the sport was the fourth place achieved by Caroline Holmyard<\/strong> and Carolyn Wilson<\/strong> in Los Angeles in 1984.<\/p>\n Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe of Great Britain: Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala \/ Deepbluemedia<\/p><\/div>\n A little under a fortnight after returning from Paris, Thorpe told Swimming World: \u201cIt\u2019s definitely strange going from training so intensely with just the same people every day \u2013 it was just me, Kate and our coach at our training centre.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d kind of train 8am to 7pm some days, Monday to Saturday and that was like super-intense. Now I\u2019ve got all this time, I don\u2019t really know what to do with it. These last two weeks have been filled up with lots of media and stuff but I\u2019m going to have a think of what\u2019s next \u2013 and probably just get back into the pool and create a bit more of a structure day to day \u2013 otherwise I can definitely seeing me go a little bit crazy if I don\u2019t have that structure in place.\u201d<\/p>\n Thorpe was speaking at the launch of Swim England\u2019s #LoveSwimming campaign which is highlighting the wider benefits of swimming lessons for children in terms of happiness, confidence and social skills.<\/p>\n Swim England\u2019s research has shown that over two thirds of parents (68%) agree that swimming lessons have helped their child to make new friends.<\/p>\n The 23-year-old first started swimming with Shortman at around seven years old and the pair won their first duet aged 10.<\/p>\n Thorpe’s mum Karen competed alongside Shortman’s mother Maria in the 1980s and narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.<\/p>\n Despite this, Thorpe feels there weren\u2019t great pathways into artistic swimming when she was younger although that has changed a lot now.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of swimming lessons you kind of learn a lot of skills \u2013 the basic skills like the sculling, eggbeater stuff like that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhich I think are important for everyone really to be able to tread water, stay afloat and it can save lives so it\u2019s really important to have. But that also opens up that opportunity to go into artistic swimming as well or even water polo \u2013 other sports. For me I was super lucky to have a lot of the girls training for London 2012, training at my local pool in Bristol.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I looked up to a lot of those girls and my mum was coaching them at the time. Also, my mum was a massive role model for me because she used to swim and she just missed out on qualification for Atlanta Olympics so I think I was always kind of chasing that dream for her as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Their trip to the Paris podium followed silvers at the Doha worlds and European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, weeks before the Games in the French capital.\u00a0Shortman also won solo free bronze at the 2023 worlds in Fukuoka.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was massive momentum going into the Games,\u201d said Thorpe. \u201cWe went in ranked second so there was a little bit of pressure there. I think it was good for us: we dealt with it really well and it\u2019s taught us how to deal with that sort of pressure.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240810_GSca_GS56056-700x500.jpg\")
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Momentum Leads To Paris Podium<\/h3>\n
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