On Sunday 12th November, the Sevenoaks Sychronised Swimming team had an amazing day at the Kent Finals in Canterbury, with nearly everyone on the team coming away with a medal.
Synchronised Swimming is scored similarly to gymnastics in that points are awarded for technical difficulty, as well as artistic impression, with varying points gained depending on whether it is an individual routine or a group. In the group routines, the more in the team the higher the points awarded due to the difficulty in synchronicity.
For individual figures, in the novice category, Lena Saunders performed superbly and won the gold as a result with a bronze for Sayaka Soga, astonishing as both girls have only been swimming with Sevenoaks Swimming Club for less than a year. In Grade zero, Maelle Fontaine in the under-12’s produced a strong performance and received a bronze medal and Sophia McInnes in 13-18 age group bringing home the gold with Eden Dyer getting the bronze, both executing their routines with aplomb. In Grade 1, Maisie Wright and Aruni Meedeniva achieved silver and bronze respectively with wonderful executions and in Grade 2, Katie Henderson was also superb and won the bronze. The icing on the cake for the individuals was Sophia McInnes winning the trophy for best newcomer in Kent.
For the first time ever, Sevenoaks Swimming Club had entered three routines, each team swimming to music for three minutes. The under-12 team produced an accomplished performance and were delighted with their bronze medal and their highest score of the season with 45.79 points, losing to Hythe Aqua by only 7.5 points. The team consisted of Amelia Bell, Amy Cameron, Lucy Sadler, Katie Thomas, Angelina Bezuidenhout, Isabelle Thompson, Lena Saunders, Fleur Kirk and Sayaka Soga.
The 13-15 years team are a bit more experienced; they were delighted with their performance and were rightly awarded with the gold medal and a score of 50.03, higher than their score at the regionals earlier in thee season. The team were Eden Dyer, Emilie Williams, Esme Allford, Maelle Fontaine, Sophia McInnes and Tiia Lahdelma.
The oldest team, in the 15-18 age group, worked hard to pull off a great routine but sadly only placed 4th, against some stiff competition from Erith and District, Medway Mermaids and Hythe Aqua, but with their highest score of the season with 52.86 points, they should be deservedly proud! The team consisted of Abbie Mellor, Edie Coomer, Katie Henderson, Aruni Meedeniya and Maisie Wright.
