Shrewsbury swimmer Zoe Cooper bids to cause BGT splash

An acrobatic swimmer from Shrewsbury is preparing to shoot – or rather dive – to stardom on Britain's Got Talent tonight.

Zoe Cooper will be seen performing by millions of viewers – and judges Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and David Walliams – as a member of synchronised swimming quartet Aquabatique on the ITV1 show.

Zoe, 28, who was born in Newport and has represented Great Britain many times since taking up the sport aged 11, is part of the unique underwater dance act which includes her friends Emily Kuhl, 22, Beth Smith, 22, and 23-year-old Jazmine Stansbury.

If their initial audition, which was filmed in Cardiff in February, is successful the quartet will have less than 12 hours to perfect a routine before appearing on the start of Sunday's live semi-finals.

Zoe said: "For the last month we've all moved into a temporary house in Peterborough together and we've literally been training for eight hours a day – up at 6am most days – in case we get through to Sunday's semi finals. It has been a lot of sweat and tears but when you love something and want something so bad then all the hard work is worth it.

"I came to live in Shrewsbury about six years ago and I fell in love with the place and have never wanted to move since. I run the Shropshire Swim Academy and they have been so great in giving me the time off work I need to complete the training.

"I had to audition through the management company Aquabatix to get into the new act and we were all chosen because our different abilities worked well together. I love entertaining and performing so I'm just living the dream at the moment."

The four swimmers, who have been training together for only six months, got their first taste of things to come yesterday by appearing on ITV's This Morning hosted by Eamonn Holmes and his wife Ruth Langsford.

Viewers were treated to a sneak preview of the act, which includes gravity-defying stunts in a giant square-shaped fish tank which is transported with the group wherever they are appearing.

In the latest episode of Britain's Got Talent tonight at 8.30pm, Aquabatique will aim to impress enough to receive a passage through to the next round.

It is only the second time a BGT act has performed a routine in the open air and outside the auditorium where the rest of the performers meet their fate in front of the audience.

"We thought the audition went well but we just hope the British public think so too as we still don't know how anyone is going to perceive us. We're all pretty nervous but excited as well and I really hope people get behind us," said Zoe.

The psychology graduate, nicknamed Super Cooper by her friends, said she hoped the fact all four women were award-winning athletes with raw talent meant they had a better chance of capturing the nation's imagination.

And despite still being in the early round of the talent show, the quartet has already been tipped for success. BGT presenter Stephen Mulhern said on This Morning: "I think this act is so different from anything else in the competition that I think you could actually do all right."

Zoe added: "I believe we're the only act that does this in the world at the moment and I'd love to be a role model for other swimmers, especially as this is the year of the Olympics." To follow Zoe on Twitter go to @aquabatiquezoe

By David Seadon