20 medals... Success for Kingston at London Regionals 2023
By Club Captains Teagan Hartney and Amy Kukula
A whopping 20 medals for Kingston Synchro at the annual London Regional Competition - what a day!
Saturday 17th June, Southgate Pool, London. The day started with an incredibly long morning of figures. Athletes queued at each station to perform their pre-selected Grade figures for the judges, keeping their cool among the competition from across the London region and Kent. A huge well done to all of the Kingston swimmers, you were professional, poised and a credit to your club. Results are as follows:
Grade 0 (11-12 years): Emma Thorne-Jones - SILVER Grade 1 (13-15 years) Francesca O-Connor - BRONZE
Ava Healy - GOLD
Grade 2 (13-15 years)
Greta Pousti - SILVER
Amy Kukula - GOLD
Grade 2 (15-18 years)
Ruby Lee - BRONZE
Annabel Sagar - GOLD
Grade 3 (13-15 years)
Erin Hartney - SILVER
Zia Davies - GOLD
Grade 3 (15-18 years)
Katie Wallace - BRONZE
Tegan Hartney - SILVER
Emily O’Neill - GOLD
After a quick lunch break, the afternoon brought us to the routines section of the competition where the following routines competed:
Marlins: an under 15 team, coached by Lou and Laura. They looked the part in their flamenco style costumes and headpieces! They showed off an upbeat and lively routine to 'Bambeleo' and 'Soy Yo', featuring a number of impressive lifts and flips. Their facial expressions and neat execution even had some of the audience clapping along with the music. The Marlins delivered an outstanding performance and placed 2nd in their age category with a score of 57.15!
Flamingos: an under 15 team coached by Katie and Lucy. They competed an exciting number to 'Toxic' by Britney Spears- in the 15 and under category. Despite needing to make some last minute changes, their routine was precise and neat. Their expressive arm movements and facial expressions characterised the music incredibly. Overall they showcased a brilliant piece and placed 3rd in their category with a score of 54.175!
The Aurora team swam their routine to the music from Princess and the Frog with their theme of different styles of dances. Having to swim first in their category seemed daunting at first (as well as having a music malfunction!), but together they gave it their all with their first lift being the highest it’s ever been! Throughout training they have had many changes, but it resulted in a fantastic swim nonetheless, and managing to score a gold, and defending their champion streak, with a score of 60.075!
Afterwards, a number of swimmers gathered round to watch the masters duet category. First was Lou and Laura- who coach the Marlin team. They delivered a beautiful yet creepy duet based on Witches, leaving many of the younger swimmers impressed by their neat figures, incredible musicality and artistic impression. Another Gold medal for the club beating some much younger and more decorated athletes may we add ;).
For our Masters’ solo we have Carys’ Tangled routine. With such exciting music and choreography she left the entire audience captivated with her unique choreography and precision and execution. With this incredible routine she was able to take silver with a score of 55.875!
Ellie and Jess’ routine to ‘Let’s Get Loud’ was definitely a crowd-pleaser. When this music plays and they swim their routine it’s impossible not to clap and cheer along- this is definitely a routine that everyone can say they enjoyed! The routine was swam with so much energy and was incredibly impressive managing to score 49.9, and placing third overall!
For their Combination routine the masters competed with their routine using music from the movie Avatar. Everything about this routine was (and still is) exceptional- from their blue swimming costumes to their perfect synchronicity, and their stunning lifts! The difficulty of this routine was high, causing the audience to feel amazed by their swim, and the execution was on point. For this category the master placed second with a score of 58.2!
For the masters’ Free Team routine they used music from Spider-Man- into the Spiderverse. A free routine is different to the normal combination team as, in a free routine all members of the team must be doing the same thing- which means no solos or duets, typically making the routine more tiring which only adds to the impressiveness of their swim. This was the last swim of the day and although many had already swam, they finished strong and gave it everything they had! The exciting choreography and music gave people so much energy that they forgot that they had been in a pool for ten hours! They scored first place with a score of 63.25!
The day concluded with the medal ceremony and the cheers for Kingston were deafening as we picked up our medals for the day. The masters were incredibly happy to lift the Masters Cup and bring it back home to our trophy cabinet.
Routine Results:
13-18 years Combination
Aurora - GOLD (Celia Thompson, Annabel Sagar, Emily O’Neil, Erin Hartney, Katie Wallace, Miranda Docherty, Ruby Lee, Teagan Hartney, Zia Davies).
15 and under Combination
Flamingo - BRONZE (Ava Healy, Eliska Zenatova-Green, Ella Wilson, Francesca O’Connor, Leyna Balzekas, Lily-Mae Kennedy, Oline Gittins, Polly Giles Gould).
Marlin - SILVER (Amaya Herbert, Amy Kukula, Aoife Comber, Betty Aberdein, Bianca Mocanu, Florrie Hunt, Greta Pousti, Isabella Zenonos, Lilia Camilleri, Maya Pozina).
Masters Solo
Carys Bruce-Caddick - SILVER
Masters Duet
Ellie Holland and Jess McEachron - BRONZE Laura Lindley and Louise Chambers - SILVER
Masters Combination Team
Avatar - SILVER (Katie Holland, Chloe Fletcher, Amelia Fletcher, Maddie McGirr, Emily Burley, Ellie Holland, Lucy Ruff)
Masters Free Team
Spiderman - GOLD (Laura Lindley, Louise Chambers, Lucy Whatley, Katie Holland, Chloe Fletcher, Lucy Ruff)
Overall this day was a great success with everyone swimming incredibly well. And for those who had never competed before, we hoped you enjoyed the chaotic atmosphere of glitter, gelatin, Jaffa cakes, and doing the Macarena in the changing rooms, and we hope that you join us for many more competitions in the future! A massive well done to all swimmers who swam their hearts out, and an even bigger thank you to all the coaches, who without them none of this would have been possible. And especially well done to Lou, as this is her first competition after having her baby! I think I speak to everyone when I say we can’t wait to smash the combo cup at Sheffield!
Amy and Teagan x