It was a historic weekend for University of Bath sporting scholar Ranjuo Tomblin as he won two breakthrough gold medals for Britain at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup season opener in Paris.
The Sports Performance student, who is supported by a Trendell Sporting Scholarship, became the first British male to win a World Cup medal when he came out on top in a supremely contested Men’s Tech Solo competition, with less than a point separating the podium places.
Tomblin, who was awarded a winning total score of 214.3966 by the judges, then teamed up with Holly Hughes the following day to claim Aquatics GB’s first-ever Mixed Duet title at a World Cup with a score of 182.9325 in the Tech competition.
“Oh my goodness, I can’t believe this is happening,” said Tomblin after his double gold. “I really came here to the World Cups to test routines because with the new rules we’re a bit unsure what to declare, so I’m really happy this happened.”
Tomblin, who became Britain’s first male European Champion in 2024, is the latest University of Bath sporting scholar to break new ground in artistic swimming for GB following Bill Whiteley Scholar Kate Shortman’s historic silver medals with Izzy Thorpe at Olympic and World Championships level last year.
“The previous achievements [have helped] and I would also say the help of Kate and Izzy, who are really opening the door for us as a newer generation of athletes,” he added. “They’ve made us realise that Great Britain is actually quite good at this sport and that has given us a lot of confidence.”
Fellow Sports Performance student Robyn Swatman placed eighth in the Women’s Tech Duet final with Eve Young.
Find out more about sporting scholarships at the University of Bath by visiting teambath.com/scholarships.