Tartan swimsuits can’t help Britain’s team of teenagers on to podium at Scotstoun

B eing one of the youngest in the field is never easy but Kate Shortman has been taking it all in her stride at the European Championships in Glasgow.

A personal best in the solo free routine qualifier on Sunday gave the British synchron i s e d s w i m m e r p l e n t y o f confidence heading into the solo technical routine. But it was not to be for the 16-yearold, pictured, as she finished eighth with a score of 82.7030 with Russia’s Svetlana Kolesnichenko winning gold.

Shortman was content with her display but felt she let herself down in the final few seconds of the performance.

She said: “I was happy with everything in my swim except the last ten seconds. I did the last element and I fell off a little bit. I was really happy with the rest of the swim and all the other elements felt good.

“It’s quite risky and it’s quite hard to go from junior to senior. I’ve b een practicing j u n i o r r o u t i n e s a l l year and we had two we e k s t o p r a c t i c e the senior elements so it’s quite hard to transition from one to the other.

“Making a personal best in my free solo, I was delighted with that. It’s just annoying t h e r e a r e n’t p r e l i mi n a r i e s a n d f i n a l s f o r t h e t e c h n i - cal event because I feel like I could’ve done better on the last part.

“It’s b een really goo d h e r e . I t ’s a mazi n g t o h ave a h o me c r owd and loads of support. I t ’s r e a l l y c o m f o r t - ing when you’re walking out and makes you so much more confident.”

Elsewhere, a youthful British team finished ninth in the team technical routine at Scotstoun Leisure Centre.

D o n n i n g t a r t a n o u t f i t s t o get the home support onside, the eight-strong team scored 7 8 .0 0 0 7 2 , f i n i s h i n g a b o v e Austria and Turkey as Rus - sia took gold. The team, made up entirely of teenagers, was pleased with its overall display and Abigail Taylor sees a bright future for the young squad.

She said: “We’re really happy with that performance. We’ve b een working really hard. It