Freddie Woodward (City of Sheffield) was back in winning form on day two of the British National Diving Cup, adding victory in the 3m Springboard to the 1m title he won yesterday.
Lying in third position after four rounds, Woodward posted his highest score of the final with his penultimate Reverse 3 ½ Somersaults (78.75) before an equally impressive final dive saw him take gold in a score of 420.50.
“I didn’t have the greatest preliminary rounds so I am really proud of how I performed in the final,” Woodward said. “I came here looking for a medal of any colour and in either event and to win my second gold in a 15 point PB demonstrates that I am in a much better shape that I was last year.
“I missed this competition due to injury last year and I found that tough but my time off has meant that I have been able to put in all the hard work that is necessary for a personal best performance. I feel like I am diving better than I have never done before. It is a really incredible feeling.”
Chris Mears (City of Leeds) won the silver medal with 420.50 points and James Heatly (Edinburgh Diving) took bronze with a score of 385.90. Guest diver Yona Knight-Wisdom (City of Leeds/Jamaica) finished third in 402.30. Tyler Humphreys (Southend Diving) Qualified for his first National final at just 13 years old and finished 8th overall.
In one of the toughest fields of the competition, it was Tonia Couch who took victory in the Women’s 10m Platform final.
Going into the last round Couch, Sarah Barrow (Plymouth Diving), Lois Toulson (City of Leeds) and Georgia Ward (Dive London) were challenging for the medals.
Couch maintained strong form throughout the final but it was her Forward 3 ½ Somersaults and Back 2 ½ Somersaults 1 ½ Twists that shone as her best dives, both scoring 72.00.
She won her gold with a score of 346.80 and said: “I did really well today, not my best but it was enough. This is the first time I’ve won a national title in a long time so I am really pleased. It means a lot to me.
“It was an intense competition and I definitely felt that the pressure was on but I focused on what I had to do and forget everything else and that worked for me as I got the gold medal.
“I’ve been working really hard back at home but I’ve also changed the order of my dives around and that worked today.”
Barrow took silver with 343.70 and 3rd Lois Toulson won the bronze medal with a score of 340.40.
Alicia Blagg and Rebecca Gallantree (City of Leeds) returned to the top of the podium in the women’s 3m Synchro after missing 2015’s National Diving Cup through an injury.
The 3m Synchro Commonwealth Champions put in a consistent performance in the final and after the required dives put themselves in a strong place.
It was their opening dive of the optional rounds that wowed the crowd and the judges as they secured almost 70 points for their Front 2 ½ Somersaults 1 Twist Piked.
The pair finished with a score of 298.02 to collect their gold medal.
“We’ve not been diving at a Nationals for a while because I’ve been injured so it feels really good to come and win here today,” Blagg said.
“Next up for us would be the World Cup in Rio if we are selected,” Gallantree said. “That will be our last chance to qualify a slot for the Olympics so that’s really the big focus at the moment.”
The silver went to Millie Fowler and Millie Hafferty (City of Sheffield) with a score of 261.75 while Lydia Rosenthall and Katherine Torrance (City of Leeds) took bronze with 248.97 points.
World champion Tom Daley (Dive London) and Plymouth Diving’s Dan Goodfellow looked impressive as the competed for the first time as a pair in the Men’s 10m Synchro.
The pair posted high scores throughout the six round of dives but it was their final dive, a Back 3 ½ Somersaults that shone as their best dive with a score of 82.08.
“I am really pleased with how that went,” said Goodfellow. “This is our first competition diving together and my first Platform competition since coming back from injury so it’s great to be competing again and working alongside Tom is brilliant.”
Daley added, “Dan has come back from injury a lot stronger and he has been able to step up to the big dives with ease. Hopefully we can continue to work hard together and elevate our scores to qualify for the Olympic Games.”