This past week has seen two Kent girls, Jodie Cowie and Amy Campbell leave school to pursue their dream of competing in the Olympics.

Only a few weeks ago they imagined their future was mapped out with GCSE’s on the horizon, but the synchronised swimmers have seen their lives turned upside down by a momentous event.

Both Cowie and Campbell, who have won competitions as a pair, have been selected as part of the new British Gas Synchronised Swimming Team for the 2013-2014 season following the week long trial at the High Performance Centre.

They along with ten other athletes will now train full-time with National Performance Director Biz Price and National Coach Lolli Montico in Aldershot.

The duo begun training with the rest of the team from the Olympics on Monday and will be aiming for World Championships in Barcelona this summer.

For Cowie and Campbell it has been a huge decision about their futures with the pair set to train between 7am and 1pm five days a week and having to leave home to be near the training centre in Aldershot.

Speaking exclusively to KSN, Campbell explained how hard it will be living away from friends and family, but it will all be worth it if she were to make it to Rio in 2016:

“It’s going to be hard being away from home and I will be living with a host family. They’ve been lovely though and they’ve even painted my room the same as it is at home to make sure I feel at home there.”

“My school have been really supportive too to make sure I’m set up with online learning. It’s scary, but I’ve got a lot of support.”

“It still hasn’t entirely sunk in yet. I never really expected it and it’s all come so quickly. It’s nice to know that Jodie will be there as well as we’ve been together since we were tiny.”

“It’d be a dream to be able to compete in Rio and be in the team. Just going there would be great as the team will need eight and two reserves. To swim in the team though would be a dream come true.”

For Campbell, the past six years have been quite outstanding considering she didn’t learn to swim until comparatively late, but she is hoping now she has the chance, she’ll be able to see the world through the sport:

“I actually only learned to swim when I was about nine and my swimming teacher was a synchronised swimmer herself at Medway Mermaids. I then moved on to Hythe Aqua where I met Jodie and quickly on to Rushmoor in Hampshire and it’s all happened from there.”

“I’m looking forward to all the travelling as I’ve never been out of Europe before and we could have trips to places like Japan so that’s really exciting.”

“We know quite a lot of the GB girls and seeing them at the Olympics was just amazing and it really raised the profile of synchronised swimming.”

Meanwhile, Cowie will be sharing a house with a couple of other swimmers in Aldershot as she too comes to terms with being away from Kent, but she told KSN that she is excited about what the future may hold:

“Like Amy, I’m excited by it all, but having to leave friends and family won’t be easy. It’s been a real rush to sort everything out and you don’t get much time to just stop and actually think about what’s just happened.”

“When you do, it’s really amazing to think that you’re actually in the GB squad. Everyone has been so happy for us and know that we’ve done synchro for a long time. I’m going to miss them and they’ll miss me, but hopefully I’ll still be able to see them as much as possible.”

“One of the sacrifices of doing this has been that because we have trained at the weekend, we haven’t been able to have sleepovers or go out and our friends have been really understanding and supportive.”

For most fifteen year olds, giving up school to pursue a dream would be a real thrill, but Cowie explained how it was important she kept up her education whilst still training with the GB squad:

“My school have been really supportive and I will be studying every afternoon so I make sure I still get good GCSE results. There’s a careers advisor at school that’s been talking to me about what I will do with my A-levels, so I need to make sure I have to fit everything in.”

“Being away from home and my parents will mean I will have to become more independant, but in synchro you spend a lot of time with one another and as a team you learn to trust one another.”

“It’s going to be a big transition, but having Amy there will be good as we can talk together as we’ll be going through exactly the same thing.”

A trip to Rio is enough to inspire any future Olympian and Cowie explained how the fear of competition will mean she gives up some of the things she loves to get there:

“I think it helps knowing there will be trials every year as that will keep pushing us on. New people could come in and you could lose your spot. With all the training we’ll be taking part in, hopefully we won’t lose our spot, but there are no guarantees.”

“There is a nutritionist that works with the squad and there will be a big change because I do like chocolate and cakes, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make if it means I get to Rio.”

For the pair, they went into the trials a few weeks ago dreaming of making it to the full-time squad, but couldn’t have believed what was to happen next.

In an X-Factor style decision making process, the pair were called in individually to be told they had made it through with Cowie explaining how it was one of the most nerve racking moments of her life:

“After four days of trials we found out on the Thursday whether we had been successful or not. It was such a shock and I didn’t know quite how to act. I was obviously really excited, but I remember wanting to know more about what would happen.”

“They went through all the information about training and kit and with mum having come in with me, the first person I had to tell was my dad.”

Like a lot of young people participating in sport, they wouldn’t be able to do it without the support of friends and family and Jodie explained how her family had been with her every step of the way:

“I wouldn’t have been able to do all this without them as they’ve been driving me to Rushmoor. It takes an hour and a half to get there and the same back.”

“What with buying me all the kit so I get the best out of training, they’ve been fantastic.”

You can follow what the pair are doing over the coming years by following them on Twitter – @synchrojodie and @AmyCampbell97 or follow Jodie’s blog at: http://jodiecowie.wordpress.com/