Divers impress in Dresden and Indiana

2 May 2023

Great Britain’s divers were busy across all age groups over the weekend, as they competed on both sides of the Atlantic in the International Youth Diving Meet in Dresden and the USA International Diving Camp in Indiana.

The former event saw a number of junior athletes take the to the boards for the annual German competition – which is always highly attended and of high quality, with this edition being no exception. There were several medallists across the four-day meet as the group honed their skills ahead of the British Diving Championships later this month.

The female medallists from across the event included Evie Smith, who ran her competitors close throughout the series of dives to take the bronze medal in the Girls A 1m Springboard final; following her performance up with a fifth place in the 3m event.

Dresden Divers 2023
Diving team in Dresden

Hannah Newbrook pitted herself against 2005-born athletes in the Girls A Platform final, and it was the Dive London athlete who took the gold amongst competition from across the globe. Thanks to a strong performance on a high-difficulty list, she put a handful of points between her and the other medallists to take the gold.

Smith then returned with partner Tilly Brown for the Girls Youth 3m Synchro event, as the pair took the gold medal with the most difficult set of dives amongst the whole field. Todd Geggus and Oscar Wilcox also took a medal on the Boys side – competing with boys up to two years older than the pair and putting themselves firmly in the silver medal spot.

Two other male athletes, Euan McCabe and Leon Baker, took silver and bronze respectively in the Boys A 3m final, as they were both separated by just over a point and firmly ahead of the trailing athletes.

One of the most outstanding performances across the competition came from Oscar Kane, as he dominated the Boys B 1m Springboard final to put himself 25 points ahead of the next best finisher to take the gold medal with a consistently strong set of dives. He followed this up with another victory in the Boys B 3m Springboard final – getting the better of the other two podium finishers who were all separated by under half a point.

Haslam, Houlden and Harper in Indianapolis
Haslam, Tom Owens (Coach), Harper and Houlden

Across the pond, the more senior divers took part in a competition which included representation from the USA, Australia and Canadian national teams.

Robyn Birch put in one of the headline performances of the competition as she put 13 points between her and the silver medallist to take gold in the Women’s Platform event. She wasn’t the only British athlete on the top step though, thanks to a big final dive from Katherine Torrance and Yasmin Harper to give the pair the gold medal in the Women’s 3m Synchro event.

Jordan Houlden and Matthew Dixon took silver and bronze respectively in the Men’s 3m Springboard final after, with the latter achieving the feat in his first 3m appearance on the international stage.

Ross Haslam was unfortunate to miss out on the Men's 3m Springboard final subject to the 'two-per nation to qualify' rule, however he joined up with James Heatly added to what was a productive competition for the synchro athletes with a silver medal in a high-performing field, before Kyle Kothari rounded off the British medal winners at the competition with Men's Platform bronze just ahead of his compatriot Robbie Lee, posting a score that sets him up well for contention at major international competitions this summer. 

Results from the Dresden International Youth Diving Meet can be found here.

Results from the USA International Diving Camp can be found here.