Double Silver for Telford Synchronised Swimmers

Girls from Thomas Telford School clinched two silver medals in the prestigious English Schools’ Swimming Association National Synchronised Swimming Championships on Saturday.

Thomas Telford School hosted the event for the first time and there was fierce competition in both the Duet and Team events with schools from all over England taking part.

First, in the Duet event, Gina Tarantonio (aged 16 from Penn, Wolverhampton) and 16 year old Claire Brown from Wellington, represented the School. The pair showed excellent control in figures and timing to take the silver medal, the first time School has won a medal in this event.

The team event followed and the Thomas Telford School team of Gina Tarantonio, Claire Brown, Marie Myler (16 of Dawley), Bethany Carter (16, Leegomery), Shannon Inglis (13, Dawley Bank), Jade Evans (14, Newdale), Jessica Newell (13, Priorslee) and Charlotte Doherty (15, Madeley) were striving to improve on the Bronze medal they won in Liverpool last year. In a very close event, the girls swam an impressive routine to music from the James Bond Soundtracks and with excellent movement and patterns, they were thrilled to beat Bradford Girls School to take the Silver medal by just half a point.

Steve Plant, Director of Swimming at Thomas Telford School, said "This is a tremendous result for our girls. Six months of very hard work has gone into their routines". He also praised the work of Sarah Jones and Zoe Cooper, Team Coaches. "Sarah and Zoe have worked tirelessly with the girls over the last 12 months and to pick up two Silver medals at National level is a tremendous achievement for the school. We are all absolutely delighted!"

Mr Plant also revealed that the school has selected by the ESSA to become the permanent base for this major school’s event. "The ESSA were delighted with the facility that we can offer here and have asked us if we would like to become the home of English School’s Synchronised Swimming."