Britain’s most promising young divers are bound for Southampton this weekend to battle for honours at the 2007 ASA National Age Group Finals.

Competition gets underway on Friday (30 March) with the 8/9 yrs 1m Springboard, then throughout the weekend more than 150 divers aged 18 and below will take to the boards to chase national titles in the 1m Springboard, 3m Springboard, Platform and Synchronised events.

Introduced last year for young British divers that are not currently on a British Swimming development programme, the competition is an excellent opportunity for the divers to develop their skills and to gain valuable experience of competition level diving.

British Diving Talent Manager Julian Bellan has seen the progression that the divers from last year’s event have made and feels that National Age Group competitions are vital for athlete development.

“The National Age Groups is not just a competition but an essential stepping-stone from skills competitions to full blown elite junior diving, where only the very best divers will perform later this year,” he said.

“Last year I was inspired by the number of young children springing onto the scene, not only in the younger age group events but also the older age group competitions, many of whom have made a tremendous transition since last year’s event into higher levels of competitive diving.”

The ASA National Age Group Finals take place at The Quays Pool, Southampton from 30 March – 1 April. The competition kicks off each day at 9.00am (warm up from 8.00am) and entry is free of charge for spectators.

-ENDS-

For more information contact ASA Media Assistant Gemma Field on 01509 632262, 07917 726431 or email gemma.field@swimming.org

The Amateur Swimming Association is the English National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Water Polo, Open Water, and Synchronised Swimming. It organises competition throughout England, establishes the Laws of the Sport and operates comprehensive certification and education programmes for Teachers, Coaches and Officials as well as its renowned Learn To Swim Awards scheme. The ASA supports 1,600 affiliated swimming clubs through a National/Regional/County structure. The ASA aims to ensure everybody has an opportunity to learn to swim.

The Kellogg’s ASA Awards Scheme is the most successful awards scheme in British sport and issues around two million awards every year to swimmers all around the world.

For more information about ASA Awards please see www.swimming.org