Team GB artistic swimmer Kate Shortman warns fans not to be fooled by her ‘FAKE’ smile in competition, as she opens up on brutal sport ahead of Olympic Games bow

Team GB artistic swimmer Kate Shortman has warned fans not to be fooled by her ‘fake’ smile when competing, as it conceals the true ‘pain’ of the sport. 

Alongside her close friend Isabelle Thorpe, the 22-year-old will begin her bid for gold on Friday evening. Often due to the athlete’s appearance, artistic swimming is not given credit for its physical and mental demands. 

Shortman is keen to set the record straight, explaining that below the surface of the water the sport is very different from what their glamorous outfits would suggest. 

‘I can’t stress how hard the sport is.’ She told The Sun. ‘Because it’s so glamorous, we’ve got our costumes on, it’s a distraction from the fact that this is a really, really hard sport.

‘We’re supposed to be smiling so you can’t see the pain. The smile is fake.’

Kate Shortman has opened up on the physical and mental toll of artistic swimming ahead of the start of the artistic swimming competition

Shortman and team-mate Isabelle Thorpe claimed two silver medals at the European Aquatics Championships in June

Shortman and Thorpe are looking to improve on their showing in her Olympic debut in Tokyo, where they ended the competition in 14th place. At the 2023 European Games in Poland, the pair claimed a bronze in the duet free – their first medal for Team GB.

Shortman then became the first-ever Brit to win a world medal in artistic swimming with a bronze in the women’s solo at the 2023 World Championships. Following on from a historic World Championship silver and bronze in 2024.

Those successes have bolstered confidence that a gold medal in Paris is a realistic aspiration. 

She added: ‘I think before Olympic gold almost seemed unattainable. It was more of a dream than a goal. Now, we’ve got our sights firmly set on it and we’re working as hard as possible to achieve it.’