The British Elite Junior Diving Championships played host to a plethora of impressive performances from across the age groups at the weekend, as the next generation of British Diving talent caught the eye.
The competition - a key selection event for the team that will compete at August's European Junior Diving Championships in Rijeka, Croatia.- provided a great platform for athletes to perform to the best of their ability alongside the best junior divers in the country, with a number of world and European junior medallists taking to the Plymouth Life Centre over the four-day period, alongside several international guests who helped provide even more of an elite competition environment.
The event was split into three age groups, with group A (age 16-18 years) providing its fair share of action. The Boys A 1m final saw the contest for the medals go right down to the final set of dives, but it was City of Sheffield’s Oscar Willcox who never looked like relinquishing his place on the top spot, as his Reverse 2 ½ Somersaults Tuck (305C) on the third round of dives scored him 66.00 on his way to the gold medal. Southampton Diving Academy’s Leon Baker finished behind the diver for the silver medal – just over a point ahead of Dive London Aquatics' Hugo Thomas, who settled for the bronze.
The Girls A 1m saw a similar number of high-quality dives, as Southampton’s Tilly Brown did enough to put herself on top of the podium with her Forward 1 ½ Somersaults 2 Twists Free (5134D) giving her a 58.50 score on her penultimate dive which spearheaded her efforts on the way to the gold. Dive London’s Evie Smith was not too far behind as she put herself between Brown and Finland’s Odessa Kack (guest) for the silver medal, with Edinburgh Diving Club’s Libby Duke taking the British bronze.
Brown and Smith returned for the Girls A 3m final to take gold and silver respectively yet again, with City of Leeds’ Amy Wright joining them on the podium for the higher springboard event.
Plymouth Diving’s Euan McCabe put in a performance worthy of the gold medal in the Boy’s A 3m final, as his Forward 3 ½ Somersaults Pike (107B) put him well on his way to victory with a score of 69.75 on the second round. City of Leeds Diving Club’s Jake Passmore (guest) finished in second place, ahead of Archie Waines and Noah Penman, of Plymouth and Aberdeen Diving Club respectively, who took British silver and bronze either side of Germany’s Mahi Gruchow (guest).
Southampton’s Robbie Lee continued his impressive form in his final year as a junior to take the gold by almost 100 points in the Boys A Platform final. The world junior medallist in the event earned a number of 9’s from the judges, including a sole 9.5, on his way to victory – his Forward 4 ½ Somersaults Tuck (109C) on the third round scoring him a massive 98.05 before a controlled final two dives saw him ease to the gold. Lee’s Southampton teammate Bryn James also took a comfortable silver medal, as Sheffield’s Wilcox took the British bronze medal, just behind Canada’s Geoffrey Vavitsas (guest).
The Girls A Platform final was a much closer affair, as Sheffield’s Maisie Bond, another world junior medallist, took the plaudits with a 62.00 score on her Inward 2 ½ Somersaults Tuck (405C) on the last round of dives to place her just above Dive London’s Hannah Newbrook, who had a drop in her otherwise impressive form up to that point. With the pair taking gold and silver respectively, Duke was back from the medal she won on the springboards to take another impressive bronze medal on the platform.
Another podium placer from World Juniors, Dive London’s Oscar Kane went well in the Boys B 1m final with a series of impressively-consistent dives to see him just edge out Plymouth’s Oliver Heath, who ran him the whole way. Fellow world medallist Jordan Fisher-Eames took the British bronze medal, as Canada’s Claude-Olivier Lise-Coderre (guest) managed to slide himself into third place with some impressive dives of his own.
Kane continued his form in the Boys B 3m final to take the gold over both springboard events, but it was not without tension. Plymouth’s Heath ran him close once again to take another silver medal, ahead of Lise-Coderre and Fisher-Eames in a result mirroring the 1m event.
A number of guests made their way onto the podium for the Girls B 1m final, as Finland’s Aada Liikkanen (guest) edged out Dive London’s Juliette John into first place, with the latter taking the British gold. Canada’s Lila Gokiert was only a handful of points behind the pair in third, with Edinburgh’s Jessica Nearn and Plymouth’s Amelie Underwood taking British silver and bronze respectively in what was a competitive event.
Underwood was the sole podium returnee for the Girls B 3m final, as she took another silver medal just over a point behind Dive London’s Skye Fisher-Eames in what was an unmissable final for those in attendance. Underwood’s Back 1 ½ Somersaults 2 ½ Twists Free (5235D) scored her 51.80 points during the third and final round of dives, but Fisher-Eames clung on to the gold medal, with her Dive London teammate Hannah Brockie taking the bronze medal.
Jordan Fisher-Eames took a British gold medal of his own in his favoured event, as the Boys B Platform final saw him engage in a close battle with Canada’s Lise-Coderre, the latter athlete ultimately doing enough to take overall first place. His Canada teammate Kash Tarasoff finished in third place, just over a handful of points behind Fisher-Eames, with Sheffield’s Archie Biggin and Plymouth’s Heath taking British silver and bronze respectively.
Skye Fisher-Eames headlined a top four which consisted of all Dive London athletes in the Girls B Platform final, as she took gold with a performance that put herself a couple of points ahead of John, who added another medal to her tally with silver. The bronze medal went to Corin Burrows Mackley, who ran the leaders through to the final round of dives.
The Boys C finals involved fewer athletes than the other categories, but that did not stop there being action in abundance. Sheffield’s Simeon Greig took the British gold medal across the 1m, 3m and platform finals, with the latter event seeing him just miss out on a clean sweep of absolute first places, thanks to a solid set of dives from Canada’s Nikos Tzanetakis to put him firmly ahead. City of Leeds’ Ralph Airey took two British silver medals in the 1m and 3m finals, with his teammate Felix Wheeler taking both bronze medals. The pair then swapped medal colours for the platform, as every diver in the event gained valuable experience ahead of further competition opportunities to come.
Sheffield’s Caitlyn Coster took a pair of gold medals across the Girls C 1m and 3m finals, which both featured a high-quality field, before finishing up with a silver medal in the Girls C Platform. Her Sheffield teammate Daisy Lindsay prevented her form taking a hat-trick of golds as her performance shone through on the platform to take a gold medal of her own, before she took a British bronze in the 3m and fifth in the 1m. Southampton’s Imogen Poole took the bronze medal on the platform, a silver on the 3m and a fourth place in the 1m event, just behind Dive London’s Siena Rae Mills and Southend Diving’s Alice Murphy, who took silver and bronze respectively from the lowest springboard.
The synchro events also proved noteworthy, as Passmore (guest) and McCabe took the plaudits in a hotly contested Boys 14-18 3m Synchro final – their Reverse 3 ½ Somersaults Tuck (307C) giving them a massive score of 84.00 on their way to victory by a margin of just over three points ahead of silver medallists Thomas and Baker - who secured overall British gold - with Wilcox and Todd Geggus taking bronze and British silver.
Smith and Brown united to take gold in the Girls 14-18 3m Synchro by a huge margin, thanks in part to their Forward 2 ½ Somersaults 1 Twist Pike (5152B) which scored them 65.70 on the last round of dives and put them well on their way to the title. It was a tighter affair behind the pair, with Finland’s Kack and Liikkanen taking second place, just 10 and 1 5 points ahead of Edinburgh’s Duke and Ellen Gillespie, and Dive London’s Nancy Trew and Kitty Smith respectively, who took the respective silver and bronze medals.
The Boys 14-18 Platform final saw the sole British entrants of Penman and Fisher-Eames take British gold and finish in second place, between Germany’s William Ackmann and Tim Axer (guests), and Espen Prenzyna and Ole Rosler (guests).
It was a similar story in the Girls 14-18 Platform final, as the Dive London pairing of Newbrook and John were comfortable winners of a two-team contest between them and Southend’s Francesca Probert and Alice Billton, who settled for the silver medal.
Full results from the event can be found here.