Meet the artistic swimmers from Bristol who are following in their mums' footsteps 

• ITV News' Jacquie Bird went to meet the duo during a training session in Bristol.

A pair of Bristol women are going for gold in the Paris Olympics - 28 years after their mums aimed to qualify for the Atlanta Games.  

Izzy Thorpe and Kate Shortman will represent Team GB in the artistic swimming duet, which used to be known as synchronised swimming. 

The duo typically practise their routines for 12 hours a day - often training at Hengrove Leisure Centre in South Bristol.

Kate said: “We have to spend a lot of time together and perform the routine under any condition - body-wise, mentally. We have to make sure we’re prepared in every single way. 

“It is a lot of work but it helps that we’re so close and we can always predict how the other one is going to react, we’ve got a lot of experience together.”

Izzy and Kate have been swimming together since they were six years old.

They were brought together by their mums, Karen Thorpe and Maria Shortman, who were also synchro stars in their own right.

They had high hopes of going to the Atlanta Games in 1996, but didn't quite make it.

Now their girls are living their dreams and heading off to their second Olympics.

Kate said: “We’ve all got the same goal, it’s actually quite a nice bonding point because I have that to share with my mum. It’s a nice connection that we share.”

Karen isn’t just a supportive parent - she’s also their coach. 

Izzy said: “Growing up from really young to now they’re still supporting us and it’s really nice to have that when you go home, even though mum is coaching me, it’s really nice to separate when you get home and have that family side of things.”

Karen said: “You have to just think of it as another competition, you can’t get overwhelmed with the situation.

“They will do the best they possible can on the day and that’s fine with me and then we’ll see what the result is after that.

“It won’t really be until we get home and have some family round that we will be able to switch off and go ‘oh yeah I’m really proud of you’.” 

The girls will perform two routines up to two and a half minutes long. During this time they’re holding their breath for nearly two minutes. 

Izzy said: “We’re not breathing much through that whole routine. It’s very strenuous on the body and I don’t think a lot of people realise that. It’s a lot harder than it looks!” 

New rule changes making judging artistic swimming less subjective have played to Izzy and Kate's strengths. 

With these changes and a year of strong results, the girls are hopeful for a gold in Paris. 

Kate said: We’re ranked second in the world going into this Olympics, hopefully we can push and come away with the gold.” 

Izzy and Kate will compete on Friday 9 August at 6.30pm.