Region's Athletes

• Lauren Smith (Rushmoor Synchro)
• Jenna Randall (Rushmoor Synchro)
• Olivia Allison (Rushmoor Synchro)
  

Randall Shows Potential on World Stage

Rushmoor synchronised swimmer Jenna Randall showed her obvious talent in the World Championship pool in Melbourne when gave an accomplished display in her first solo event at senior level.

The Rushmoor teenager went into the competition following an intensive 10-week programme delivered by new British National Performance Director Biz Price and she looked impressive achieving personal best scores from the judges in the 8.9s.

The Judges awarded Randall's Solo Free Routine a technical score of 42.667 and an artistic impression total of 43.333 to give her an overall points score of 86.000. This placed Randall in 16^th less than 2.5points off a top 12 spot in the final.

"The overall presentation showed a lot of improvement from Jenna," said Price. "She's worked on her strength and she was a lot higher out of the water and the strokes were good.

"She really pushed through the first part of the routine and looked like she tired towards the end but this is something we're working on and she's already come a long way.

Price has been delighted with the improvements made by her squad since she took over the reigns at British Syncho at the turn of the year.

"It was a real strong effort and that's what we want to see," she explained. "The technical aspects were good but it was the effort that I was pleased with the most. It was another good job by Jenna."

"Her score showed we're closing the gap on some of the most established synchro nations. There wasn't a lot of room between Jenna and some of the big names out there today and that will close even further as we look to Beijing and the 2012 London Olympics."

For Jenna, on day two of her first senior international competition, the teenager took everything at the Rod Laver Arena in her stride and was pleased to have shown what she's capable of.

"I was really happy with this morning. I beat the Austrian which was a personal goal as we tied with them in the duet yesterday and they're a close rival at the moment," said Randall.

"I've had that routine for about a year now and I've performed it at a number of competitions but that was by far the best. I was in early this morning getting my heart rate up and my muscles warm, and it worked well for me which the judges reflected.

"My aim was to do the best swim that I could and get good marks. That's what I did so I'm happy. I was pleased with the scores which included some 8.9s, in that regard it's a personal best."

Synchro Duet Result is Ahead of Expectations

Britain's young synchronised swimmers exceeded expectations at their first World Championships in nearly a decade.

Jenna Randall and Olivia Allison, at their first senior event, finished joint 20^th with Austria in the Duet Technical Routine on the first day of the Melbourne World Championships at the Rod Laver Arena.

The result gives British Synchro, which is at the beginning of a development process in time for the London 2012 Olympics, a starting point on which to build to ensure they're competing with the very elite of the sport in five years time.

National Performance Director Biz Price, who has been in charge of the athletes' development since her arrival from Canada at the beginning of the year, was pleased with this morning's outcome which went further than she had hoped for given Britain's lack of world ranking coming into the competition.

"That was a very good performance and showed more consistency of skills which is what we were after," explained Price.

"We're way ahead of the Australians which is a great start. It was a good job and we're right on track as the judges showed today.

"Overall it showed the improvements we've made in just two-and-a-half months. There are a few more areas we need to work upon but the first element of the routine was awesome.

"We still need to work towards a more consistent routine but that's something that we have time to do as we eye the opportunity of going to the Beijing Olympics and certainly London 2012."

Judges awarded the British duet an execution score of 42.333 and an overall impression score of 42.500 to give a total of 84.833. This placed them joint 20^th out of a total field of 36. They were 4.5 points away from a top 12 finish and a place in the final.

"The girls handled the whole experience very well. From training at 6am this morning to hanging around the venue until their routine at 11.30am, they were very professional. They obviously felt comfortable with the competition itself and that is what these World Championships are about. They were impressive," added Price.

For Randall and Allison, who have been living and training together at their base in Aldershot in readiness for the World Championships, it was a just reward for all of their hard work.

"It was a really good first time performance for us," said Randall. " We worked our corrections and the marks are what we had hoped for so we're pleased.

"We were looking at the leading nations this morning. They are very good but it doesn't come as a shock to us, we know where we need to be and this morning showed we've taken big steps towards getting there.

"Biz had set us a target of top 22 but personally I was hoping for a top 15 spot. It's our first senior World Championships and to be honest it's a bit of an unknown but this morning gave us a good starting point on which to build."

Allison was delighted with the duet's performance and feels the hard work undertaken over the past 10 weeks has given the girls the ideal foundation on which to build towards Beijing and beyond.

"We've been training in Canada for a month before a two week camp here in Australia," said Allison. "We had a lot of competition simulations within that time so we knew what we needed to do and it went well this morning.

"We've been living together for three months now and training almost everyday to get ready for the biggest event of our careers so far. It's been hard work but it paid off for us today."