Paris 2024 artistic swimming: How duo Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe are pioneering the way for Team GB

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.”

Team GB pair ready to rewrite history

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 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 realise just how little opportunity there is to come up for air during a routine.

Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe are right on the money

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.”