SELENA Liu and Rebecca Trinklein of the US-based club New Canaan and Jamaican duo Jody Campbell and Isabella Cisneros were the outstanding performers on the opening day of the CLARO International Synchronised Swimming Chams at Bournemouth Bath yesterday.

However, the swimmers were made to wait more than three hours before they could even begin their warm-up and for a while it seemed there might be no competition at all due to thunderstorms and lightning at the facility.

Liu and Trinklein, performing in the 13-15 duets category to music with an oriental and Southern-Asian flavour, stood out in purple and red costumes which complement their performances.

The duo were first into the pool just after 5 o’clock and their perfectly synchronised routine saw them ending up with 7.0 for technical merit on two judges’ scorecards, with no mark lower than 6.0 for artistic impression.

Jennifer O’Neil and Renee Collett, also from the Connecticut-based New Canaan YMCA, was their only competition in this category, and while the pair had overall better marks for technical merit and artistic impression, their routine did not stand out as much.

There was also competition on day one in the 12 and under, 12 and under Intermediate and 13-15 novice categories, with two Jamaican pairs competing in the 12 and under and 13-15 novice categories each.

Jamelia Shaw and Charlotte Olson, of the Jamaica-based Island Aquatics Club, seemed out of sync with the music in most parts of their routine while their choice of music also was not inspiring.

The novice pair of Jody Campbell and Isabella Cisneros had the crowd pumping as they dove in, but their routine also showed a few cracks at points.

Overall, the pairs from Curacao Sharks Aquatics, who competed in both the 12 and Under Intermediate and Novice categories, appeared the weakest of the seven teams.

They will all have a chance to improve on their scores when they complete the second half of their judging programme this afternoon.