With over 170 divers from as far a field as Edinburgh and 16 teams in total, the popularity of the event was even greater than ever. The superb event management brings teams back year after year and has teams now calling for the event to be run over 4 days – claiming “Plymouth Diving have created a monster!!”

It was a real festival of diving and with the UK’s leading divers (including four from Plymouth) in China at the World Cup, this year’s event was all about the next generation and the talented youngsters that will be charged with leading Britain’s success on a World stage from 2012 and beyond.

From Plymouth’s point of view, there were mixed results, from a very mixed team. Former Junior International Kyle Prior (17) called on all his experience to pick up gold in the 16 & over 1m and silver in the 16 & over 3m events.

National Junior medallist Jenny McDonald (18) showed the skill that won her a silver medal at last month’s British Championships, picking up a silver in the Girls 16 & over platform event, behind new Senior International star Helen Galashan from Leeds. In the same event, Emma Barrow picked up a bronze medal and with Jessica Taylor also in the final finishing 6^th, the absence of Plymouth’s top International Platform stars, Sarah Barrow, Brooke Graddon and Tonia Couch, was not felt by the team.

There were also medals for Aaron Walters (15), who finalled in all 3 of his disciplines and won bronze in the 14-15 3m, Jenny Bunsell (11) who finished 3^rd in the 11 & under platform and there were further finals places for Harry Glover (17) in the 16 & over platform, Jessica Taylor (18) in the 16 & over 1m and Ashley Hendrick (13) in the 12-13 boys platform.

However, it was Plymouth’s newest divers that caught the attention of the Team’s coaches with some superb debut performances. Matthew Dixon, the youngest member of the team at just 7, missed out on the final of the 11 & under boys 1m by just 7 points, despite competing against boys up to 3 years older than himself. He comfortably qualified for the forthcoming National Age Group Championships and showed immense character and determination, despite his young age. His cousin Shanice Lobb and her friend Kayleigh Sinclair were all also competing for the first time at this level and they both also comfortably qualified for the National Age Groups. These three divers have only been diving for 13 months, so this is a remarkable achievement. Expect to hear a lot more from these three names in the future.

At the end of the weekend, it proved to be a walkover in the team event for the City of Sheffield, who won by a massive margin from the City of Leeds and Southampton a distant third. Plymouth Diving finished 4^th, but with their less experienced divers beginning to find their feet at this level, it shouldn’t be long before the local team can get themselves back into the fight for top spot.

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