Swimming Champions draw attention to Plastic pollution
By Jessica Kane on Tuesday, March 12, 2019
British synchronised swimmers Kate Shortman, 17 and 18-year-old Isabelle Thorpe took on the challenge of performing their World Championship routine in a swimming pool littered with plastic drinking bottles, containers, toiletries and carrier bags.
Striking pictures highlight how synchronised swimmers struggled to perform their routine in a pool full of plastic to reinforce the need to tackle global environmental problems.
In such conditions, it is unsurprising that the pair struggled to perform their usually effortless routine. Isabelle said: ‘Trying to do our routine in a pool full of plastic was really hard. We kept getting our legs stuck in the bags and bopping our heads on bottles.
The challenge was made by the Big Bang Fair to bring attention to how young people are using their science, technology, engineering and maths skills to address environmental issues such as the impact of plastic pollution in the oceans.
The Big Bang Fair has revealed that nearly a third (28%) of young people say they want to see the oceans being revolutionised by science, technology, engineering and maths. Indeed, organisers say entrants to the big bang competition, which sees young people entering their innovative designs as part of the fair, are increasingly focusing on the environment.
After the performance Isabelle stated: ‘It really hit home how awful it must be for the poor turtles and other sea life that go through that every day, so to hear so many people our age are using science and technology to come up with solutions to help this situation for the future is really great.’
Kate adds, “There’s no doubt that plastic in our oceans is already a huge issue, with consequences on the daily lives of future generations unless we do something about it, so it’s fantastic that young people are encouraging people to take responsibility and change their behaviour towards plastics.”
The Big Bang Fair is a free event that aims to get youths to use their scientific and engineering skills, it takes place at the NEC in Birmingham 13-16th March 2019.
