Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Hard work of synchro squad reaps rich rewards
Swimming
Faversham SC sent a dozen of their synchronised swimmers to compete in the Kent Invitational Recreational Synchro Competition incorporating the Kent Championships last Sunday at Canterbury.
In the morning the swimmers took part in the figures competition with Megan Millsted snatching sixth place in the skill 0/Rec 1 13-and-over age group.
Her performance of ballet leg with bottles, an oyster and a back tuck somersault earned her a score of 48.5269, just outside fourth place.
Eleisha Skinner (36.2963) and Louise Sharp (36.1296) were seventh and eighth respectively in the Skill 1/ Rec 2 12-and-under age group after executing a ballet leg, inverted tuck to vertical with bottles and travelling eggbeater.
Newcomer Evie Bromley, nine, competed in the Skill 0/ Rec 0 for under-12s and scored 32.3333 for a good execution of ballet leg with bottles, tub 360 and stationary eggbeater.
Then it was the turn of the more experienced Faversham synchro girls to shine.
In the Skill 1/Rec 2 13-andover section, Esme Sutherland (37.0926), Amber Smith (37.0741), Anna Lambert (34.3889), Niamh Mcway (33.9259), Freya Scott (32.5556) and Abigail Sewell (29.1852) all achieved top-20 places with their performances including ballet leg, inverted tuck to vertical with bottles and travelling eggbeater.
Emily Ing and Dervla Murphy took part in the Skill 2/Rec 3, 13-and-over skill level with Emily scoring 31.7602 and Dervla 31.1345 for their brilliant ballet leg, barracuda and front walkover, securing them a top-15 placing.
In the afternoon it was the turn of the routine competitions with Dervla and Emily leading the way in the Skill 2/Rec 3 duet performing a routine they had choreographed themselves and performed to a selection of Abba music.
Their perfect synchronicity with both the music and each other placed them fifth with an execution score of 24.8333 and artistic impression score of 24.1667 giving a total mark of 49.000.
Nine Faversham synchro swimmers competed in the 19-and-under combination team event, pulling out all the stops and performing incredibly well to take fifth place with an artistic impression mark of 22.6667 and execution score of 23.1667 for a total of 45.8333.
Head coach Rachel Ing said: “The hard work put in over the last few months to ensure nine swimmers are synchronised has definitely paid off, this was the best performance they had done.”