Bristol Central synchronized swimmers prove their talent at National Competition

The British Synchronised Swimming Championships and ASA National Age Groups 2007 were proudly hosted in the south-west, at the Gloucester Leisure Centre (GL1), on 1st- 2nd December. Over 40 swimmers from the local club; Bristol Central took part and finished with an impressive round up of medals, proving that the 240+ hours spent preparing for this competition had paid off!

The figure competition took place on Saturday 2nd December and Bristol’s 13/14 age group swimmers: Anya Tarasiuk, Alexandra O’Mahony and Charlotte Frost had to step up to compete in the 15/16/17 age group as well, raising their game from performing four figures to an impressive eight. Following this, both Anya and Alexandra have been selected to trial for a place in the 2008 Great Britain Junior squad. Also competing in the 15/16/17 figure competition was Bristol’s Lisa Marsh, who has represented Great Britain this year in the 2007 Junior squad. Lisa finished in third place and has been selected to trial for a place in the 2008 Great Britain Junior squad.

The routine competition began on Saturday afternoon and swimmers were lucky enough to witness performances from world-class athletes. World Championship silver medallists Gemma Mengual and Andrea Fuentes from Spain stole the show with their impressive new Technical Duet routine. As they finished the crowd erupted into rapturous applause as they showed their appreciation for the world-class synchro. Bristol’s senior Great Britain squad representatives: Katie Dawkins and Rebecca Macenri swam an impressive duet routine, finishing in third place in the UK competition. Both swimmers have recently joined the national squad centralised at the High Performance Centre and for the first time in British Synchro’s history the country’s top athletes have access to these world-class facilities and the perfect training environment. Swimmers now train everyday in a deep eight-lane 50m pool with underwater sound system and poolside televisions. Katie, and junior star Lisa, competed in the technical solo competition and finished fifth and eleventh, both improving on their performances from last year. Anya and Alexandra joined forces to swim in the 13/14 year duet competition and just missed out on the gold medal, finishing in second place.

The competition came to an end on the Saturday with Bristol’s 15/16/17 team taking the silver medal. On Sunday, the competition hotted up as the Bristol Central senior team took to the stage to compete and finished in an extremely impressive second place, with only five swimmers. This was followed by an exciting competition with 13/14 year Bristol Central ‘A’ team battling against Rushmoor to retain their title. Both teams performed well and were confident in the water but it was Bristol that took the title. The reigning champions took gold with 61.167 points ahead of Rushmoor – who finished with 59.333 points, Bristol Central ‘B’ team took the bronze with 59.167.

Next it was time for some of Bristol’s youngest swimmers to compete, some of whom have only just started in the sport and look to have an impressive future ahead of them, following in the footsteps of the senior swimmers. Bristol Central’s ‘A’ team swam superbly and confidently brought home the gold medal. The Bristol Central ‘B’ team, with swimmers as young as ten, finished in eighth place.

If you would like to try synchro come along to one of the eight week starter courses in January 2008, to find out more please visit http://www.bristolcentralsc.co.uk or call Lynne Sissons on 07969234935

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A summary of BCSC Nationals results can be found here