Rugby Artistic Swimming Club win Combo Cup by a point in thrilling finale

Rugby Artistic Swimming Club were crowned champions at the GoCardless Swim England Artistic Swimming Combo Cup in a thrilling finale at Ponds Forge.

They took home the prestigious trophy after a nail-biting final event which saw them edge out City of Salford Synchronised Swimming Club by just a single point.

It all came down to the final event where City of Salford led but Rugby had two routines to go to Salford’s one.

Rugby’s teams performed first, scoring 85.1500 and 78.2500 respectively to put themselves in third and fourth spot, with the North West side waiting in the wings looking to steal the title.

They were the last to perform and needed all nine points to draw level and steal the crown. They put in an incredible display to beat both Rugby sides but could only manage third place City of Salford which gave them seven points, handing Rugby a well earned crown.

It meant that Rugby finished on 34 points with Salford on 33 after their combined total from each of their swims across the day.

Speaking on their success team manager Rachel Lee said: “It has been an absolutely amazing event and a fantastic achievement for the club.

“The swimmers and coaches have worked so hard this season, and it is all down to the swimmers wanting to achieve. They were fully committed, and we couldn’t of asked for more.

“Shout out to Hannah Secher, our head coach, for her hard work and dedication which has led us to this point.”

Annie Marie Barry, team manager, added “It is thrilling that we won the Combo Cup, it was down to the last point and we were all on the edge of our seats.”

Aqualina win sensational gold

Despite the battle for the trophy, it was Aqualina Artistic Swimming Club’s team who let off the biggest cheer once the results were declared.

They defeated both the top two to secure first place in the Division 2 15 – 18 event with a score of 96.1500 – one of the highest scores across the entire competition.

Cheltenham Artistic Swimming Club also finished ahead of the Salford and Rugby’s sides to earn second place, which led them to third overall in the Combo Cup standings with a total of 29 points.

They and Aqualina impressed with near clean swims to cement their place at the top of the standings.

Aqualina’s ‘Peaky Blinders’ routine earnt the East region side their first gold of the competition since it’s return following the pandemic, in a incredible display from the nine-strong-group.

Their team consisted of Erin Hodgson, Evelyn Isherwood, Freyja Ragoobur, Heather Mann, Iris Rowland, Isla Howie, Leia Stewart, Olivia Chalkley and Sophie Smith who all headed home with silverware around their necks.

Cheltenham’s result saw the club improve from eighth to third in the overall standings, the biggest improvement of any club that made it into last year’s top 10.

They scored 87.4450 to be only club to go within ten of Aqualina’s total as they held off Salford and Rugby for second.

Cheltenham also earnt a Combo Cup bonus point for having a full team which included Winifred Margretts, Jocelyn Butt, Natalie Pullan, Madeleine Watine, Marianne Baker, Rebecca Byrne, Isabelle Evans, Violet Watkins, Anna Stankusova and Elicia Jewson.

Their strong display saw them earn the clubs third podium spot of the day with the silver medal spot.

Swimmers focus and motivation helps Leeds to gold

Earlier on in the final session, City of Leeds Synchronised Swimming Club scored 90.5875 with their ‘Grease Lightening’ routine to win the Division 1 15-18 Years event.

Charlotte Entwistle, Eve Simenton, Erin Fulton Ava Baczkowski, Jenny Ingham, Tallulah Mathews-Fall, Elisabeth Brown, Esther Mallors Phoebe Hirst and Beth Walker made up the squad that put in a great performance.

Sarah Robinson, their development squad coach, said after the swim: “the swimmers have worked hard all year on their execution and timing, as they knew how important this was towards their final score.

“After the success of last year, the teams have been focused and motivated in training. They even chose the music from Grease themselves for the routine.”

Aquaoaks Artistic Swimming Club also performed a routine with music from Grease and came second place with a score of 67.5000.

Chelmsford City’s routine involved music from Rihanna and the hit song ‘Stereo Love.’ Their performance secured third place and scored 64.2500.

Aquaoaks win gold with day’s highest score

Aquaoaks took gold with almost 100 points in the Division 2 13-18 Years final.

Their routine was rewarded with the highest score of the day so far as they led the standings by seven points.

Aquavision followed them in second place with an impressive total of their own. The judges gave them 92.9342 points with the City of Leeds getting on the podium once again in third.

The top three were the only teams of the 17 in the competition to reach the 90-point mark with Leeds scoring 90.1000 for their performance to the songs from ‘Dirty Dancing’.

Aquaoaks’ squad contained Betty Black, Emily Newton, Francesca Rice, Gemma Grobbelaar, Lucy Sadler, Mariella Rice, Poppy Brown, Sarah Fitz-Gerald and Stanley Stiff.

Aisling Khan, Asya Uckun, Elisa Kato, Evelyn Bernal, Lara Roddy, Rose Gormanly, Tess Harrison and Valentina Kapiris represented the silver medal winning Aquavision side.

You can find the final Combo Cup standings and results here.

Images: Will Johnston Photography.