British Senior Championship
2022-02-11 - 2022-02-13
British National Diving Cup 2022
Plymouth Life Centre hosted the British National Diving Cup over the weekend. With
World Championships, Commonwealth Games and European Championships scheduled
to take place before the end of August, the best senior divers from across the country
were in action vying for a podium finish. Three Plymouth divers who are coached by Sally
Freeman were selected to represent Plymouth Diving – two of whom are juniors.
Aidan Heslop kick started the medal tally, winning bronze in the 10m mixed synchro
event with partner Ruby Thorne from Dive London Aquatics Club.
Summer Radcliffe had a superb round of dives in the 1m preliminary to finish in fifth
position overall. Going into the final Summer held her nerve and continued diving well.
As a junior Summer won the bronze medal. She also competed in the 3m event and
despite not making the final it was a valuable learning experience with the opportunity to
dive against Olympians.
On platform Euan McCabe was in action. Comfortably competing against the senior
divers he gave them a run for their money and finished in second position after the
preliminary round. As the highest scoring junior in the final, Euan won a well-deserved
gold medal crowning him a champion.

Armada Cup
2022-02-19 - 2022-02-22 | Plymouth Life Centre, Plymouth
Armada Cup 2022 Review
A twenty-eight strong team of Plymouth divers have just finished competing in the Armada Cup held
at the Plymouth Life Centre. In its 22 nd year it was a chance for the diving community to come
together and celebrate the beginning of a full calendar of competitions since the pandemic hit.
Thirteen other diving clubs from around the country battled through storm Eunice to make the start
of the four day event on Saturday. The competition was split into two sections – Junior Elite and Age
Group with South West Regional medals also up for grabs for the Age Group divers.
Harry Westbury our youngest Age Group D diver finished in fourth place on the 1m board, which
earned him a gold South West medal.
Girls group C Age Group was tough with the largest number of competitors. The nine South West
medals were shared between Lexi Davies, Eva Lang and Yvie Tucker. Lexi was the most decorated
with an additional bronze medal for her outstanding 1m performance and silver for 3m.
Group C Age Group boys were represented by Oscar Westbury, Will Heath and Alex Whittaker.
Between them they did a sterling job winning twelve individual medals. Alex picked up three South
West medals. Will finished in third on the 3m board to win bronze. On the 1m board Oscar secured
the silver medal. Together Will and Oscar made the platform final. It was going incredibly well for
both boys until Will’s foot slipped on his last dive ending his chance of a medal. Oscar safely reached
the silver podium position. Will and Oscar joined forces for the 1m synchro event where they took
the top spot winning gold. Team mate Noah Underwood sustained an injury prior to the Armada Cup
and was sadly unable to participate.
The Age Group B girls scooped a total of nine South West medals between them. Erin Healey two
silver and one gold, Harlie Stringer two bronze and one gold, Mathilde Tassart a silver and gold. Rose
McCabe was back in action after suffering a serious elbow fracture last year and is gradually returning
to previous form. She won a bronze South West medal on 3m.
The girls in Age Group A all medalled. Moving from skills to her first age group competition Ella
Cornish made a valiant effort on platform to win the South West gold medal. Lucy Gutierrez-Freeman
won the bronze South West medal on 1m. Ellie Pearce and Maia Pearson both made the 1m and 3m
final which resulted in two silver South West medals for Maia. Narrowly missing out on a 1m medal
Ellie won the bronze on 3m plus two South West golds.
In the Age Group A section Ben Hall competed for the first time on platform winning the South West
gold medal. After qualifying in fourth for the 1m final Ben Kearton raised his game. Performing a
confident round of dives he was not going to settle for anything less than glorious gold.
Elite group B diver Scarlett Colbourne just missed out on the 3m final where Amelie Underwood
successfully took the bronze which she later repeated on 1m. Scarlett paired up with Katie Martin to
win the silver 3m synchro medal.
Group B Elite boys Ollie Heath and Theo Stevens won the silver 3m synchro medal. Both boys are part
of the Swim England Talent Z camp. Ollie had further success on the 1m board qualifying for the final
in fourth position. He also made the platform final and just missed out on a medal finishing fourth.
Archie Waines from the same group dived for the first time in the elite section. He dived consistently
across all three boards. On platform he initially led the pack with two technically impressive dives.
Continuing her recent accomplishment at the British National Diving Cup elite group A diver Summer
Radcliffe added a gold and silver medal to her collection. Katie Martin having already won a silver in
synchro collected a bronze on the 1m board.
In group A, elite diver Euan McCabe was untouchable and won 2 gold medals with ease. Fifty clear
points ahead of his nearest rival on the 1m board and a whopping score of 530 points on the 3m
board.
With no competition experience Ava Cowper, Martha Ticehurst and Laura Burrows performed well to
set themselves personal best scores to build upon in the future. They all coped admirably with the
enormity of the occasion.
The Armada Cup in association with Cisco Homes made it possible for Plymouth Diving to host an
event of this size. Their generous sponsorship was invaluable for which we are grateful for.
Plymouth Diving would also like to thank Devonport Royal Dockyard Sport & Social Club who
contributed towards the medals, Everyone Active for the use of the Life Centre facilities and Plymouth
City Council for their continued support. The divers and parents would also like to show their
appreciation to the dedicated coaching staff and volunteers. The club is looking forward to a bright
future with help from Cisco Homes and an exciting sponsorship deal with Pilkington Estates.

G Star & Mini White Rose
2022-03-25 08:00 - 2022-03-27 17:00 UTC | John Charles Centre for Sport, Leeds
Mini White Rose & G-Star 2022 Review
With the ongoing support of Pilkington Estates a team of twenty-five Plymouth divers travelled to
Leeds over the weekend to compete in the Mini White Rose for Skills divers and G-Star for Age Group
divers.
It was the first opportunity for the Skills divers to showcase their talent in over two years and for the
vast majority their first ever competition. Group D girls had the largest group of divers to battle
against. Alice Jones and Eva Tsianavas dived well amongst the twenty-eight strong pack and gained
valuable experience. Isla Applin had an incredible round of dives finishing with the spectacular silver
medal. Isaac Ide proved unbeatable for the boys in group D topping the podium with a glorious gold.
Group C girls all finished in the top half. Poppy Jones in eighth position, Abigail Bishop sixth and Ava
Cowper fourth and only just missed out on the bronze medal by less than two points. Group C boys
could not have dived better leaving no room for any other club on the podium. With an outstanding
performance by all three boys Kaiwen Dun won the bronze medal, Lincoln Stephens the silver and
Louis McCue the gold. In group B Kiri Pethick finished in a respectable ninth position and Laura
Burrows was fourth.
All of the Age Group divers had it tough with other teams putting up a fight it left no room for error to
even qualify for a final. Harry Westbury in group D picked up two finalist medals. He finished in
fourth place on the 1m board and fifth on 3m. Between them the group C boys managed to win a
finalist medal across all three boards. Noah Underwood in fifth on 1m, Will Heath was sixth on 3m
and fourth on platform with Oscar Westbury joining him in fifth. Eva Lang and Lexi Davies took on all
three boards in the group C girls section. The most successful board for Lexi was 3m where she
qualified for the final to win the sixth position medal. Erin Healey and Mathilde Tassart represented
the club in group B along with Ella Cornish, Ellie Pearce, Maia Pearson, Ben Hall and Ben Kearton in
group A.
The coaches for the three day event were Tommy Davis, Ebony Colbourne and Lucy Gutierrez-
Freeman. It was the first time away coaching for newly qualified Ebony and Lucy and they handled
the experience admirably with guidance from Tommy.

Junior Elites
2022-04-13 - 2022-04-16 | Southend-on-sea
British Elite Junior Diving Championships 2022
Sporting the new kit kindly provided by Pilkington Estates, a small team of Plymouth
divers and their coach Sally Freeman headed off last week to Southend for the British Elite
Junior Diving Championships. Hosted by the Southend Swimming and Diving Centre, the
competition ended on Saturday after a gruelling four day event. Showcasing the best
talent on offer in the UK, this is a tough competition for the select few and a real sense of
achievement for those divers chosen to represent Plymouth Diving.
In group A, Euan McCabe qualified for the final on the 3m board in first position. After a
close fought final with the top four boys each scoring over the magical 500 points Euan
finished with the bronze medal. In the platform final there were only two contenders
battling for gold. Euan and Robbie Lee from Southampton Diving Academy outclassed all
of the other finalists in what was a thrilling event, full of top class dives. It concluded with
Euan winning the silver and Robbie the gold.
Whilst there were no medals for the group B boys their results were a success. Theo
Stevens just missed out on the 1m final in seventh position beating his personal best score
to do so. Ollie Heath was thirteenth and Archie Waines in fifteenth. Ollie also performed
well on 3m beating his personal best score to finish tenth; Theo was fifteenth and Archie
seventeenth. Ollie frustratingly missed the platform final by 5.2 points to finish seventh.
Not to be outdone Archie also beat his personal best score on platform to finish eleventh.
This was Archie’s first British Elite Championships which provided a wealth of experience
to build upon.
In the group A 1m event Katie Martin finished in thirteenth place. A large group of thirty
divers took part on the 3m board which resulted in Katie finishing in a respectable tenth
position. With an improved score of 56.85 points since her last competition it was a very
encouraging outcome.
Group B girl Amelie Underwood was lying in fourth place going into the 1m final. With
points to make up Amelie was undeterred and with a fighting spirit claimed the gold. In
true champion style Amelie also won the 3m gold medal rounding off two great events
which could not have gone better. Scarlett Colbourne finished in eighth on 3m and ninth
on platform. Katie and Scarlett teamed up for the 3m synchro event along with Theo and
Ollie with both teams improving on their previous score to finish in sixth.
Overall the six day trip resulted in personal achievements for all of the divers which they
can be proud of.

Southwest Regional Skills
2022-05-21 08:00 - 17:00 UTC | Life Centre, Plymouth
Southwest Regional Skills
This weekend provided the first major opportunity for the Plymouth Skills divers to test
themselves against other divers from across the South and showcase their talent. The
Southwest Regional Skills competition supported by Pilkington Estates, was held at the Life
Centre and saw 50 divers competing and aiming to qualify for the National Skills Finals,
which will take place in Leeds on 9 th and 10 th of July.
Group D girls set the tone for the Plymouth divers scooping all three podium positions with
Alice Jones having an incredible round of dives finishing with the gold medal. She was
closely followed by Isla Applin who took the silver medal and Teagan Mousley in the bronze
medal position with Eva Tsianavas in fourth. All four divers making the qualifying score for
Leeds.
Not to be out done, the D Group boys put in some superb dives with Daniel Jones finishing
fourth in his first competition and Isaac Ide taking a well-deserved gold medal after an
excellent round of dives which also saw him achieve the required score for the finals.
More success for Plymouth quickly followed, with the podium positions for both the C
Group girls and boys being dominated by Plymouth divers. A fiercely fought battle in the
girl’s competition ended with a superb gold medal for Abi Bishop, having produced some
outstanding dives. The silver being taking by Ava Cowper, the bronze by Poppy Jones and a
14 th place finish for Mia Tickle, in her first competition, rounding off a brilliant performance
from the girls.
With the pressure to perform mounting, the C Group boys were up to the challenge, with
Kaiwen Dun taking the bronze medal and Lincoln Stephens the silver. It was Louie McCue
who got the better of his club rivals, winning the gold with some very consistent diving.
The B Group competition saw both Plymouth divers put in some excellent dives against
some experienced divers. Kiri Pethick winning the silver medal despite narrowly missing the
finals qualification score, but with more competitions on the horizon she has plenty of
positives to build on. Laura Burrows was also in action in this closely contested group and
performed well and getting the bronze medal.
The divers were coached by Sally Freeman, Fito Gutierrez, Claire Roberts, Tommy Davis with
a batch of newly qualified coaches assisting. The weekend’s success again highlights that the
future of diving in Plymouth is looking good and with the ongoing support of Plymouth
Active Leisure and Pilkington Estates, Plymouth Diving is hoping for continued success at the
finals in July.

Southeast Regional Skills
2022-05-28 08:00 - 2022-05-29 17:00 UTC | Tunbridge Wells
Southeast Regional Skills
Following hot on the heels of last weeks’ phenomenal performance, the Plymouth Diving
Skills divers sponsored by Pilkington Estates, travelled to Royal Tunbridge Wells in pursuit of
more medals. The Southeast Regional Skills competition held at the Tunbridge Sports Centre
provided the opportunity for the young divers to improve on their qualifying scores or a
second chance to qualify for the National Skills Finals, which will take place in Leeds on 9 th
and 10 th of July.
Once again it was the Group D girls up first, with the competition fierce and all the divers
performing well, it was a tough start. However, Isla Applin produced some excellent dives
and walked away with a thoroughly deserved silver medal, having smashed her personal
best. Following that amazing performance was never going to be easy, but Eva Tsianavas
dived well throughout and once again achieved the qualifying score, finishing in sixth place.
In the boy’s competition Isaac Ide put in some superb dives against some talented young
divers and narrowly missed out on a podium place, finishing in fourth.
In the Group C girls, the Plymouth divers were aiming for a repeat of the previous weeks
podium lockout, but the other competitors had other ideas and produced some very good
diving to really push the Plymouth girls. Last weeks’ winner Abi Bishop, finished in 8 th with
some solid diving and Poppy Jones produced some superb dives to take fifth place, only five
points from a medal. However, it was Plymouth’s Ava Cowper whole stole the limelight,
producing a brilliant performance to claim a well-deserved gold medal and break the 300
points mark in the process.
Next up was the Group C boys, with Kaiwen Dun taking fifth following a consistent round of
dives. It was Lincoln Stephens who once again showed his class, with some excellent dives to
claim the bronze medal.
B Group girls had the most divers competing and saw Plymouth’s Kiri Pethick aiming to gain
valuable experience and build on her previous score. She produced some good dives to
place a very respectable 18 th against a strong field of divers.
The divers were coached by Tommy Davis. The success over the last few weeks has shown
that Plymouth Diving can look forward to the National Finals in July with much optimism
and with the support of Plymouth Active Leisure and Pilkington Estates, the sky’s the limit.

National Age Groups
2022-06-30 02:00 - 2022-07-03 18:00 (Europe/London) | Plymouth Life Centre, Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom
Return to Nationals for talented divers
This weekend saw Plymouth Life Centre host the largest national diving competition in England, with divers travelling throughout England as well as guest divers from Scotland, Wales, and Dubai.
Plymouth’s selected team of 15, who had all qualified through regional events were keen to show off their home pool and represent their club, demonstrating their hard work, with the support of Pilkington Estates. This was the first Swim England National Age groups for 11 of the divers showing a great future for forthcoming competitions.
First up on the Thursday was the synchro event. Plymouth’s Yvie Tucker and Eva Lang started the competition on a high, claiming the gold medal with beautifully executed dives showing their partnership well placed, with teammates Lexi Davies and Martha Ticehurst taking 6th place. Not to be outdone, Noah Underwood and partner Alex Whittaker took the gold medal in the boys event, securing Plymouth as group C/D champions in both the boys and girls category.
The four-day long competition saw further diving successes across all groups.
Erin Healey on the Girls group B 3m placed 22nd with some excellent diving in a large group of 28. Erin repeated her great diving on the platform event, with an amazing front two and a half somersault in pike position from the 10m board, which put her in 17th position, resulting in personal bests (PB’s) on both boards. Mathilde Tassart also joined this event with a great set of dives and placed her in 21st position.
Alex Whittaker went on to continue his success from the previous day with another gold medal following an excellent display of diving in the boys C group platform event. Not content with his two medals so far, he performed a great set of dives on the 3m board and added a silver to his collection. Will Heath, stepping up to his first year in group C in Age groups performed brilliantly with an amazing back one and a half somersaults in tuck placing him securely in 6th position on 3m, and again on platform.
The boys were joined by Noah Underwood and Oscar Westbury on the 3m and again all four divers competed on the 1m board whereby they firmly put their mark on the competition dominating the top half of the leader board, with Noah taking a brilliant bronze, Alex 4th Will 5th and Oscar 6th.
Girls C group divers had a strong team of four competing over the weekend. Yvie Tucker, Lexi Davies and Eva Lang, took to the boards again in a close competition on the 1m and performed a strong set of dives which placed Yvie in 6th, just 1.9 points behind the bronze, Lexi just behind in 7th and Eva in 10th with a PB and happy with her back one and a half somersault tucked being a highlight of her event.
The trio took to the 3m board the next day where Yvie performed a beautiful inward dive pike. Martha Ticehurst joined them on this board and showed a confident round of dives to the judges in her first Age Groups. Lexi topped the Plymouth Divers on this board in another strong 10th position. The final board for the girls was platform. Whilst there were no medals, they all yet again demonstrated outstanding dives.
Girls group A divers Maia Pearson and Ellie Pearce made for a nail-biting competition on the 1m board, with Maia winning a bronze medal and Ellie finishing in 4th place with only 2.3 points behind her teammate with a PB.
The duo continued their impressive skills on the 3m board the following day with another closely fought competition whereby Maia, following a high scoring inward two and a half somersaults in tuck secured herself her second bronze of the competition, and Ellie finished in 9th place.
Ellie had another day of competing ahead of her in the girls A platform event, with a solid series of dives putting her into 9th position. Teammate Ella Cornish displayed a strong start to her National Age Group debut and finished in 17th position.
In the Boys A 1m board Ben Kearton displayed some impressive diving, starting well scoring all 7s on his first dive – an exceptional front one and a half somersaults tucked, and remaining strong, just missing a podium position, and placing 4th with a PB.
Harry Westbury was the only Plymouth diver in the D event and began his great introduction to the national event on the 1m board with two excellent dives and consistent scoring rewarding him with a silver medal. He competed again on the 3m board and gained a bronze to add to his silver.
The Plymouth Divers finished 4th overall from 14 clubs, scooping 9 medals. Divers were coached by Tommy Davis, and Fito Guttierez who said “I just want to say that this weekend showed our strength as a club and the fight to not give up after the pandemic! We all had a tough time, at last the divers had a national event to make themselves proud. They showed grit and determination to perform in front of a packed balcony. We had plenty of divers in the podium and lots of top 6’s. I want to thank all the people behind the scenes for a great Nationals in our pool, the Life Centre – the best to hold big events in the UK and beyond…”
Plymouth Diving can look forward proudly to the next events to come.

National Skills Final
2022-07-09 08:00 - 2022-07-10 17:00 UTC | John Charles Centre for Sport, Leeds
Hot on the heels of the of last weekends’ success it was the turn of the Plymouth Diving Skills Divers to test their ability against the best in England at the National Skills Diving Finals in Leeds. The competition required all divers to attain a tough qualifying score to be eligible and Plymouth Diving sponsored by Pilkington Estates travelled with a strong squad of 11 divers.
Day One saw the Group D2 boys open the competition with 12 boys battling it out for the honours. The competition was fierce at the top with the lead changing with every dive but some superb diving from Isaac Ide allowed him to scoop a well-deserved bronze, his first national level medal.
Next up was the Group C1 girls, where hopes were high, with 3 divers due to compete. Unfortunately, Poppy Jones had to withdraw from the competition with injury but despite her disappointment she was happy to take up the role of chief cheerleader. Spurred on by some fantastic support Abigail Bishop and Ava Cowper produced some solid diving on all boards against some very talented divers. Abigail finished in 11th place overall, but it was Ava who produced an outstanding set of dives to take a brilliant silver medal for Plymouth.
Day Two presented Plymouth with several more chances to claim more medals and started with the Group D1 girls. Once again, the competition for the podium places was tough but the 3 young Plymouth divers more than held their own. Although a medal wasn’t to be, the trio walked away with their heads held up high and having gained some valuable experience. Teagan Mousley finishing 12th just behind her teammate Alice Jones in 11th and Isla Applin in 7th. Eva Tsianavas was the only diver competing in the D2 group and dived well throughout but the competition for the top places was intense and she finished 20th overall.
Group C1 boys had Kaiwen Dun and Lincoln Stephens diving and they both produced some very consistent diving to finish in 6th and 7th respectively, only separated by a single point. Having watched his teammates face some tough competition it was finally time for Louie McCue to try and secure a top 3 medal. Despite the excellent opposition he remained calm and composed and produced some outstanding dives to finish in 3rd and walk away with the bronze medal.
The divers enjoyed their first ever national competition and were coached by Fito Gutierrez, Lucy Freeman-Gutierrez and Ebony Colbourne. With Mark Jones gaining valuable experience as a level one judge at his first major competition.
The weekend’s success again highlights that the future of diving in Plymouth is looking good and with the ongoing support of Plymouth Active Leisure and Pilkington Estates, Plymouth Diving is hoping for continued success.

AGM
2022-10-02 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Plymouth Life Centre, Zoom call
The committee will.be holding the AGM at 7pm via zoom.
All members of the club are welcome.

Southampton Invitational
2022-10-22 08:00 - 2022-10-24 17:00 (Europe/London) | The Quays, Southampton
Plymouth Diving kick started the new season travelling to the Southampton Invitational, held 22nd-24th October. The team of 17 divers were full of positive attitude despite limited training following a ten-day pool closure, which pitted elite and age group divers in the West Quay Pool.

Coach Fito Guttierez said that this competition was a chance for the divers to try new dives and set the bar for improvements in 2023 towards gaining scores for qualifying for National Age Groups and Junior Elites at the Plymouth Armada Cup in February.

Harry Westbury was the only Plymouth diver representing the D group boys on both 1m and 3m boards, where he placed 6th on 1m, and won the first medal of the competition, a bronze on the 3m.

Lexi Davies, Eva Lang and Martha Ticehurst represented the C group girls, all diving brilliantly in a large group of 30, where Lexi proved consistent diving on both springboard events rewarding her a place in the final on 1m continuing to win a bronze medal.

Oscar Westbury, Noah Underwood, Alex Whittaker and Will Heath competed in the C group boys event, a tight contest, all displaying their skills with Alex Whittaker making two finals on the 3m and platform events and taking the silver medal in the platform final. Will Heath also joined Alex in the platform final, just missing out on a podium finish in fourth place but gaining a new PB.

Whilst there were no medals in the large B group girls event, there were plenty of new PB’s won. Erin Healey, Rose McCabe and Mathide Tassart all dived brilliantly for Plymouth, and all managed new PB’s, Erin 35 points on 1m, Tilly also a PB on 1m. Rose achieved PB’s on all her boards with a huge 30 point PB on 1m. Great successes to all three girls.

The A group girls saw finals reached for Maia Pearson on 3m and Ellie Pearce on 1m, who both pulled out the dives in the finals and took home a silver medal each on their respective boards. Maddie Elliot joined this group, new to age group diving and diving up from B group, and just missing the finals in 8th position.

Elite divers this year meant that the divers had to place in the top two in the preliminaries of the elite diver category to continue into the final. Whilst Scarlett Colbourne placed 4th on the 1m, she just missed out on a final spot. Ollie Heath placing 6th in preliminaries and Archie Waines who dived up a year in A came 7th, meant that they were also unable to join the finals but demonstrated excellent diving on their boards.

Divers were supported by Pilkington Estates, and coached by Fito Guttierez, Tommy Davies and Harry Mason.

Peter Waterfield Invitational Novice Diving Competition
2022-11-12 | Southampton
Peter Waterfield Invitational Novice Diving Competition
This weekend saw the Plymouth Diving Skills Divers sponsored by Pilkington Estates get their season off to a start and testing their ability at the Peter Waterfield Invitational Novice Diving Competition at the Quays in Southampton. The small team of 5 divers were excited to compete against divers from across the South and follow up last seasons success.
First to dive was the D girls with a strong field of 28 divers trying to claim a top 3. The competition was fierce at the top with the lead changing with every dive but some superb diving from Eva Tsianavas allowed her to end the competition in a well-deserved 6th place. Hot on her heels was Teagan Mousley who produced a solid set of dives to finish 8th overall and building on the experience of last season.
Next up was the Group C girls, where hopes were high, with 2 Plymouth divers due to compete. Spurred on by some fantastic support Abigail Bishop and Mia Tickle produced some excellent diving on all boards against some very talented divers. Abigail finished in 12th place overall and less that a point from finishing in the top 10. Mia in only her second competition gained some valuable experience early in the season and finished 27th overall.
The last Plymouth diver to compete was Kaiwen Dun who was competing in the Group C boys’ competition against a smaller field of 6 divers. Kaiwen was keen to start the season as he finished the last with more medals. Some excellent dives kept him in contention throughout with the lead changing hands several times as the divers rotated around the boards. As the competition ended, he was delighted to end in the silver medal position.
The divers enjoyed their first skills competition of the year and were coached by Harry Mason and Josh Freeman.
The weekend’s success was a great start to the season and with the ongoing support of Plymouth Active Leisure and Pilkington Estates, Plymouth Diving is hoping for continued success this season.

FINA World Junior Diving Championships
2022-11-27 08:00 - 2022-12-02 17:00 (Europe/London)
Taking time off from his apprenticeship at Neil Hogarth Building Contractor,
Plymouth diver Euan McCabe and Southampton diver Robbie Lee have just
finished competing for GBR at the 24 th FINA World Junior Diving Championships
held in Montreal, Canada. With over 250 divers from 40 nations this is a high
profile event with the best of the best vying for a podium finish. Pairing up for
the platform synchro their synchronisation was on point throughout. Lying in
fifth place after the third round, their fourth dive an inward three and a half
somersault brought them back into medal contention. Finishing off with a
superb back two and a half somersault with one and a half twists resulted in a
deserved silver medal for this established pairing.
The final day of the event was the individual group A platform. With only
twelve places available for the final, the preliminary round of 31 divers was
tough. Euan did extremely well to achieve a place. He was the only diver to
perform a challenging back three and a half somersault in the pike position and
finished in eleventh place in the final.
As Euan returns home, Amelie Underwood prepares to fly out to Montreal to
compete at the International CAMO Invitational where she will represent
England. This will be Amelie’s first competition at this level and her family
along with Plymouth Diving are proud of her progression and success in being
selected.
Both Euan and Amelie are coached by Sally Freeman at the Plymouth Life
Centre. Aidan Heslop another diver formerly coached by Sally has now taken
up residence in Montreal where they have the facilities for him to concentrate
on his High Diving career after huge success on the Red Bull circuit. Last month
Aidan won the British Swimming Outstanding High Diver Award for 2021-2022.

Christmas Gathering
2022-12-03 19:00 - 23:00 (Europe/London) | Stoke Dameral Church, Plymouth, PL1 5QL
Plymouth Diving would like to invite you, your family and friends to a night full of fun, laughter and dance moves like no other! Can’t dance, unable to follow instructions without making mistakes – then this evening will be perfect. A ceilidh is a very sociable event but if you really don’t want to strut your stuff then come along to soak up the atmosphere. Intended for all, regardless of age. It would be lovely to meet new and old faces so please save the date. Bring your own alcohol and nibbles. More details to follow nearer the time.

ESSA Schools
2022-12-11 | London
On Sunday the 11th of December, English Schools Swimming Association held their 67 th National Diving Championships
at the renowned London Aquatic Centre home to many Olympic divers. The South West entered a
team of 22 Divers aged between 10 and 17 representing eighteen different schools in the region.
Medals were secured in all age groups and the South West should be proud of the talent being
developed in the region. Primary competitors, Isla Applin (Montpelier Primary) secured a silver
medal with Teagan Mousley (Oreston Community) a worthy 5 th . Harry Westbury (Stoke Damerel
Primary) missed out on a bronze by just one point and Isaac Ide (Morley Meadow) came an
honourable 6 th .
Last month Isla and Isaac competed in the Swim England Talent Games. Selection
alone for this competition is an honour and is an indication of their potential to do well in a
challenging sport in the future.
The Juniors gained points with Will Heath (Plymouth College) and Oscar Westbury (Devonport High)
coming 5 th and 6 th respectively. In the girls Ava Cowper (South Dartmoor Community College)
finished with an impressive hard fought bronze just 8 points from a gold. Intermediate, Ollie Heath
(Plymouth College) dived impressively for his silver. The intermediate girls faced fierce competition.
Scarlett Colbourne (Stoke Damerel) achieved points which were on par to a 5 th place finish in the
boys section. For the seniors, Katie Martin (Tor Bridge High) and Archie Waines (Lipson Community
College) both achieved bronze medals.
The day ended with mixed synchro. It transpired that the South West were a force to be reckoned
with. A new event for Will Heath and Ava Cowper who were just edged out of gold to finish with a
silver and brother Ollie Heath with Maia Pearson (Devonport High) also concluded the competition
with a silver medal.
Other divers who contributed towards the South West winning the Team Trophy included; Alice
Jones, Sophie Hamlin (Bournemouth Girls), Poppy Jones, Louie McCue, Noah Underwood, Alex
Whittaker, Ben Hall, Erin Healey, Lexi Davies and Ellie Pearce. To win overall out of the eight regions
was a triumph for this talented squad of divers, the South West and Plymouth Diving. A tremendous
achievement made possible by the schools that supported the divers along with the hard work of
coaches and volunteers, all of whom the Club would like to thank. Coaches on the day were Fito
Gutierrez, Harry Mason and Josh Freeman supported by Team Managers Bridget Heath and Emma
Waines.

CAMO
2022-12-16 08:00 - 2022-12-19 17:00 (Europe/London)
Amelie Underwood a former gymnast was spotted on a scouting trip by
Plymouth Diving coach Sally Freeman where she attended Montpellier Primary
School. An invitation to join the Talent Squad followed which was accepted
and Amelie made steady progress. She took part in her first skills competition
in 2018 at the age of ten where she finished in the top six.
Between 2018 and 2020 there were numerous top six finishes and several
podium placings for Amelie at age group level competitions.
In 2020 Sally recognised that Amelie had the credentials to become part of the
National Elite Squad and compete at a higher level of events. This was a big
undertaking for Amelie; it meant joining an established group of divers who
were much older and with greater experience than her. Amelie took the move
in her stride and fitted in well due to her maturity, hardworking attitude and
level headed approach.
At the British Elite Diving Championships in October 2021 Amelie was
successful and won a silver medal for her 1m and 3m performance. By April
2022 at the same competition Amelie was stronger and more polished,
bringing home the gold medal for the 1m and 3m. Acknowledged for her
continued development Amelie was selected to represent England at the
CAMO Invitational in Montreal, Canada.
The 3m board at CAMO was the most lucrative for Amelie. After the
preliminary round she was in sixth position but gave the final her absolute all
to win the silver medal. Juliette John from Crystal Palace Diving Club joined
Amelie on the podium in third place.
On the 1m board Amelie finished fourth in the preliminary round and
upgraded this positon to win a bronze medal in the final. Juliette finished in
first place. Corin Burrows-Mackley from Dive London Aquatics Club finished in
fifth position on both the 1m and 3m boards making the English trio a force to
be reckoned with.
Parents Paul and Zoe along with Brother Noah are incredibly proud of Amelie’s
achievements to date. As part of the Swim England Y Camp Development
Programme the next chapter for Amelie is set to be promising with many more
successes to come. Sally continues to nurture Amelie’s diving and credit has to
be given to Sally for detecting her potential at an early age.

Legacy Open
2022-12-19 08:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London) | Dive London, London
A team of six Plymouth divers headed to London to compete in the inaugural London Legacy Open in the run up to Christmas, headed by coach Sally Freeman.
The new competition, based at the London Olympic Aquatic Centre, was held in memory of David Jenkins, a Dive London, British Diving and Tokyo 2020 Team GB diving coach who sadly passed away in October 2021
The three-day event was a huge success for Ollie Heath, who dived on all three boards and secured two gold medals on 1m and 3m, with excellent diving on all 9 dives. He continued to hold his nerve in the final with a brilliant display and a huge 67.20 scored on his reverse two and half somersault in tuck. Whilst making it through to the finals in first position in prelims on platform, he just missed a podium position by shy of two points but achieved his third PB of the weekend.
Also diving in the B category was Theo Stevens, who claimed 4th place on the 1m with consistent solid diving and a grabbed a PB on platform.
Joining his brother, Will Heath made a last-minute entry on the 3m board in boys C event and achieved both a PB and a silver medal.
Also diving at the competition were Archie Waines, who dived on the 3m board in the boys A event, whist not feeling 100% but managing to secure some great dives. Maia Pearson, in the girls A event, made it through to the finals on 3m in 4th place, and finished her 1m with a solid dive; and Summer Radcliffe who dived in the Women’s open on 1m and 3m finishing well in a very tough group.

National Cup
2023-02-02 08:00 - 2023-02-05 17:00 (Europe/London)
British National Cup,
Royal Commonwealyh pool,
Edinburgh

Armada Cup
2023-02-11 08:00 - 2023-02-14 17:00 (Europe/London) | Life Centre, PLYMOUTH, Devon, United Kingdom
Last weekend saw the biggest event in the Plymouth Diving calendar take place at the Life Centre, with over 150 divers from clubs across the country battling it out for honours at the Pilkington Estates 2023 Armada Cup Diving Competition.
Junior Elite A Boys saw Euan McCabe win gold in the 3m with club mate Archie Waines scooping the silver. In the B boys category Oliver Heath produced some outstanding dives achieving some 9’s (the only ones of the competition) to win the 1m, 3m and Platform events with Theo Stevens earning a bronze in the 1m event and silver in the Platform with all 4 boys qualifying for the National Finals. In the Junior Elites girls events Plymouth divers Scarlett Colbourne, Katie Martin and Maia Pearson dived superbly all weekend with Katie and Maia making the National Finals.
The outstanding performances from Elite divers Euan, Oliver and Amelie Underwood were hot the heels of the Junior divers participating in the British National Diving Cup held in Edinburgh which is a Senior competition. As with all sports at an elite level, injuries are common forcing Amelie to withdraw but Oliver represented Plymouth on 3m and Platform with Euan joining him on 3m. Both boys produced some outstanding dives against Olympians and the experience was invaluable.
Unlike many competitions the Armada Cup sees Age Group divers compete alongside the Junior Elites which makes for a very busy and frantic weekend. The Age Group competition was fierce and there were some fantastic performances from the Plymouth divers. In the A category for 16 to 18 year-olds Ben Hall, Ellie Pearce, Madeleine Elliott and Mathilde Tassart achieved the qualifying score for the National Finals. The best result in this category following some excellent dives was a brilliant bronze in the 1m event for Ellie.
In the B category for 14 and 15 year olds Noah Underwood, Erin Healey, Lexi Davies, Eva Lang and Yvie Tucker all made the National Finals qualifying scores. The divers also walked away with plenty of medals with Noah collecting bronze medals in the 1m, 3m and Platform events following some brilliant and consistent dives. Erin and Lexi battled it out on Platform pushing each other until the last dive where Erin held her nerve and produced an amazing final dive to win gold, pushing Lexi into second. Lexi rounded off her competition with another well-deserved silver in the 1m event. Rose McCabe and Martha Ticehurst were also diving in the B category and came away with some great scores.
In the C category for 12 and 13 year olds Will Heath, Oscar Westbury, Isaac Ide, Poppy Jones, Ava Cowper all made the National Finals qualifying scores. Not to be outdone by his brother Will dived superbly and won gold in the 3m and Platform events following some excellent dives. Lincoln Stephens and Eva Tsianavas also dived in their first Age Group competition performing well and gaining valuable experience at this level.
The youngest divers in the competition are in the D category for 10 and 11 year old divers with Teagan Mousley and Isla Applin achieving National Final qualifying scores. Harry Westbury dived well all weekend and won silver in the 1m, 3m and Platform event. In the girls events Isla produced some great dives to win gold in the 1m and bronze in the 3m and Platform. Teagan and Alice Jones produced some of their best diving when it counted with Teagan winning silver in the 3m and Alice winning bronze in the 1m events.
The competition also saw various synchronised diving events take place where once again Plymouth produced some fantastic results. Katie Martin and Maia Pearson, Oliver Heath and Archie Waines, Ava Cowper and Isla Applin all winning gold in their respective events. The other pairings also fared well with Oscar Westbury and Will Heath winning silver just edging Harry Westbury and Isaac Ide into the bronze medal place. Lexi Davies and Scarlett Colbourne, Madeleine Elliott and Erin Healey also competed and placed well in their events.
The outstanding effort by all the Plymouth divers was rewarded by the club winning the Armada Cup Team Trophy after amassing the most points beating 12 other clubs in the process.
Overall, the weekend was a resounding success with the Plymouth divers once again showing why the city has a reputation for producing some of the best divers in the country. The club would like to thank all those involved in making the event such a success but particularly the amazing coaches Sally Freeman, Fito Gutierrez, Tommy Davis and Harry Mason and Tamar Fresh for the continued support. Special thanks to Jayne Glynn our Chief Recorder who hung up her score pad for the last time after 20 years dedicated to the club.

British Junior Elites
2023-04-13 08:00 - 2023-04-16 17:00 (Europe/London)
The British Elite Junior Diving Championships, which was hosted by British Diving and Plymouth Active returned to the Life Centre, concluding its four-day event on Sunday, where the best young divers in each age group competed for the national title.

An achievement to even compete, athletes from across the nation and guests from Canada, Germany and Finland competed. Plymouth Diving was represented by a small but strong team of seven coached by Sally Freeman and Fito Gutierrez.

In group A boys (16-18) Plymouth were represented by Euan McCabe who claimed the gold medal after qualifying first in the preliminary round and a huge PB of 31 points. Teammate Archie Waines took the silver medal in the same event with a great performance which saw him move from 5th place in the qualifying round to second in the finals. He also competed on the 1m.

The boys were further represented in the B group with Oliver Heath and Theo Stevens. Theo reached the final on the 1m board, and finished in 4th place, just 3 points off bronze; a great achievement following being besieged by injuries and sickness which led to him almost being unable to compete. He also competed on the 3m. Team-mate Oliver had a fantastic competition on all three boards, making it through to the finals on each, and continuing to keep his nerve and gain a silver on both the 1m and 3m, and a bronze medal on platform.

For the girls, Amelie Underwood in group B had a great competition qualifying in first place in the preliminary rounds for both of her events and going on to win silver on 3m missing the gold by less than 2 points and bronze on the 1m.

Katie Martin and Maia Pearson represented Plymouth in group A girls. Katie qualified for the finals on 1m qualifying in 4th place and going on to compete a lovely set of dives and finish in 5th place. She narrowly missed out on the finals on 3m in 8th place.
Maia stepped up to her first Junior Elites Championships which provided a wealth of experience to build upon and whilst did not make the finals finished in 13th on 3m with some great dives and on 1m.

Katie and Maia also paired up for the synchro event on the 3m board. The pair managed to recover an unfortunate dive to finish in 4th place. Amelie Underwood and her partner Corin Burrows Mackley from Dive London Aquatics also competed and finished in 6th.

The boys synchro saw Oliver and Archie finishing in 5th position whilst Euan and Jake Passmore from City of Leeds Diving claimed another gold bringing the tally of medals for Plymouths team to 2 Golds, 4 Silvers and 2 Bronze medals.
Having coached them through the championships, coach Sally said “The team continues to go from strength to strength, bearing in mind these athletes lost 17 months of training in Plymouth through Covid, but they are still here and justifiably earnt their place in a British Junior final, which is fantastic. True resilience!”

Euan, Oliver, and Amelie have now to continue their training to prepare them for their next competition, representing Team GB in Dresden, Germany at the International Youth Diving meet from 27th April.

Dresden
2023-04-27 - 2023-04-30 | Dresden, Germany
Three divers from Plymouth Diving and coach Fito Gutierrez have just spent the last week in Dresden, Germany representing GBR at the 10th Youth International Meet.
Euan McCabe is an experienced international diver and first competed at this meet back in 2019. Bravely finishing his round of dives in the boys group A final with a reverse three and a half somersaults paid off and secured the silver medal on the 3m springboard. Fellow team mate Leon Baker from Southampton Diving Academy joined him on the podium to claim the bronze. Both of them put in a sterling performance to achieve a score of over five hundred points.
Group B divers Amelie Underwood and Ollie Heath both made their debut for GBR at this competition. Having previously dived for England last year, Amelie has already experienced this level of competition. Training at an elite level takes its toll on the body and unfortunately Amelie has recently been battling against injury. Despite this, Amelie qualified for both springboard finals. She finished sixth on 1m and ninth on 3m and was the highest placed GBR diver in her age category on both boards.
Ollie first became interested in diving at the age of four after watching the 2012 Olympics. Starting out in the Mighty Mini Squad when he progressed to the Elite Development Squad the gymnastic lessons were shelved due to his commitment to diving. In November 2019 after a gruelling selection process Ollie made the grade to join the Swim England Z Team. Breaking his foot on the 1m springboard in February 2020 followed by lockdown meant that this talented team of divers did not experience the full benefit of this achievement. Now part of the Elite National Squad, Ollie has a busy schedule juggling his studies at Plymouth College with training at the Life Centre where he is coached by Sally Freeman.
So far, this season of diving has been particularly fruitful for Ollie. Winning an individual medal on every board at the Armada Cup and British Junior Elites his performances did not go unnoticed by the GBR selection team.
At Dresden the 3m preliminary round was going particularly well for Ollie and he was lying in fifth place until the final dive. Over twisting on his back one and a half somersaults with two and a half twists cost him several points. Unperturbed and determined to perform well in the final he clawed back points to finish in fifth place. Ollie put his heart and soul into the 1m board to finish fourth in the final. Team mate Oscar Kane from Dive London Aquatics Club was outstanding in both of the springboard events to win two golds for GBR.
Plymouth Diving is steadily growing thanks to the inspirational results achieved by our divers. Their success is down to raw talent nurtured by the coaches, the facilities at the Life Centre, Plymouth Active Leisure and financial support from Pilkington Estates.

Great Britain Diving Federation Spring Masters
2023-04-29 08:00 - 2023-04-30 17:00 (Europe/London) | Southend
Harry Is Back On Board!
Harry Mason began his competitive diving career in 2010. With many competitions under his belt and a plethora of medals he unfortunately had to retire in 2018 due to injury. At the age of twenty-four and a five year absence Harry could no could no longer ignore the yearning to compete again. Last weekend he travelled to Southend to take part in the Great Britain Diving Federation Spring Masters where he represented Plymouth Diving. His opening event on the 1m springboard could not have gone better. After a consistent round of well executed dives there was only one possible outcome which was to finish at the top of the podium to win the gold medal. This calm and unswerving approach continued onto the 3m springboard event where he finished with the silver medal.
Harry is a coach at the Plymouth Life Centre and is responsible for the progress of the Development Age Group and Mighty Mini Squad. Without doubt his performance will inspire his divers on to succeed.

South East Regional Age Group Qualifiers
2023-04-30 - 2023-05-01 | The Quays, Southampton , United Kingdom
Plymouth Diving supported by Pilkington Estates, took a strong team of 16 divers to compete in Southampton at the Southeast Regional Age Group Competition. The divers were aiming to win medals to add to their collection but more importantly the necessary qualifying scores to compete at the National Age Group Finals in June.

The competition was fierce with some fantastic performances from the Plymouth divers. In the A category for 16 to 18 year-olds Ben Hall produced some outstanding dives to achieve the qualifying score for the National Finals on 1m and walk away with bronze medals and PB’s on the 1m, 3m and Platform.

In the B category for 14 and 15 year olds Erin Healey, Lexi Davies, Eva Lang, Rose McCabe and Alex Whittaker all made the National Finals qualifying scores. The divers also walked away with plenty of medals and lots of PBs. Lexi winning a silver medal on 1m and a superb gold on the Platform following some brilliant and consistent dives. Eva and Martha Ticehurst also put in some amazing dives in all events. PB’s were achieved by Erin, Lexi, Eva, Rose, Martha and Alex. However, diver of the day in this category was undoubtedly Erin who produced a string of excellent dives to finish with a full set of medals with gold on 3m, silver on Platform and bronze on 1m.

In the C category for 12 and 13 year olds Ava Cowper made the National Finals qualifying score on Platform also getting a fantastic bronze medal and PB. Oscar Westbury put in a strong performance across all 3 events with two 4th place finishes and bronze on Platform. Isaac Ide, Lincoln Stephens and Poppy Jones despite carrying an injury, also performed well and gained valuable experience at this level with a raft of PB’s being achieved.

The youngest divers in the competition were in the D category for 10 and 11 year old divers with Alice Jones, Isla Applin and Harry Westbury achieving National Finals qualifying scores. Harry dived well despite just returning from injury and won silver in the 1m and 3m events. In the girls events Isla produced some great dives to win bronze on the 1m and 3m board. Teagan Mousley and Alice produced some of their best diving when it counted with Teagan winning bronze on Platform and Alice coming 4th.

Overall, the weekend was a resounding success with the Plymouth divers once again showing why the city has a reputation for producing some of the best divers in the country. The club would like to thank the amazing coaches Tommy Davis and Harry Mason along with Mark Jones for taking on the judging responsibilities.

Southwest Regional Skills
2023-05-13
This weekend provided a major opportunity for the latest batch of Plymouth Skills divers to test themselves in their first ever competition and was a chance for the more experienced divers to showcase their talents. The Southwest Regional Skills competition was held at the Life Centre and saw 25 divers competing and trying to qualify for the National Skills Finals, which will take place in Leeds on 15th and 16th of July.
This year’s event featured 5 divers in the youngest age category which sees divers aged 8 and 9. In the boy’s event Leighton Mossford won Gold with some fantastic dives and in the process qualified for the finals. The girls event saw 4 Plymouth divers going head-to-head and they all produced some excellent dives. It was a very close competition with the lead changing hands throughout, but it was Phoebe-Mae Evans who finished with the gold medal. She was closely followed by Bethany Hockaday who took the silver medal, Ivy-May Davey in bronze medal position and Honor-Grace Kelly in 4th place. Amazingly they all achieved the finals qualifying score with ease.
Group D boys pitched club mates Seth Greentree and William Gregory against each other. The standard of dives from both of them was excellent but it was Seth who managed to finish with the gold medal with a near perfect back jump in tuck from poolside leaving William with a well-earned silver medal. Both divers scored highly throughout and will also be heading to the finals in July.

The girls group D event was the biggest event of the day, seeing 8 divers competing for the title. The competition bought out the best in the divers with some superb scoring dives from poolside, 1m and the 3m boards. In the end the top 3 were separated by less than 10 points with Isabella Stringer breaking the 300-point mark and winning gold with high scoring dives throughout. She was closely followed by Margot Elliot who took the silver medal and Rae Mossford who took the bronze medal with both divers excelling in the 1m dives. The divers in 4th to 8th were even closer with less than 5 points between them all. They finished with Lottie Tucker in 4th, Imogen-Rose Hockings in 5th, Ivy Dart in 6th and Emily Williams in 7th with all 7 Plymouth divers achieving the finals qualifying score.

With the pressure to perform mounting, the C Group boys were up to the challenge. Kaiwen Dun scored the only 10’s of the event with a perfect forward dive tuck from poolside, helping him score well over 300 points to win the gold medal by over 20 points. Charlie Clinick took the silver medal and Alex Jones the bronze medal in their first ever competition, both scoring highly in several dives and getting the scores needed for the finals. In the C girls’ event experienced club mates Abi Bishop and Mia Tickle dived superbly throughout but it was Mia who took the gold medal with a new PB of over 300 points, leaving Abi with the silver medal. Isla Newton in her first competition also produced some brilliant dives and finished in 4th and easily achieved the final qualifying score.

The B Group competition involved a few divers from other clubs but it was Plymouth’s Louie McCue who stole the show winning the gold medal. He produced some brilliant dives off both the 1m and 3m boards to finish with a superb 389 points and over 100 points above the score needed to qualify for the finals.

The divers were coached by Sally Freeman, Fito Gutierrez, Harry Mason, Tommy Davis with a group of younger coaches assisting. The competition highlights that the future of diving in Plymouth is looking good and with the ongoing support of Plymouth Active Leisure and Pilkington Estates, Plymouth Diving is hoping for more success in July where they will have a huge squad of 21 divers vying for medals.

British Diving Championships
2023-05-25 08:00 - 2023-05-28 17:00 (Europe/London)
Plymouth divers; Amelie Underwood, Euan McCabe and Ollie Heath were in action once again representing their club at the British Diving Championships held in Sheffield over the bank holiday weekend. The competition encompassed talented divers across Britain for juniors and seniors with guest divers from Greece, Italy, Jamaica and Sweden.
The 3m board was particularly fruitful for Ollie where he set the bar high for himself with his opening dive and continued to score an average just short of fifty-three points per dive giving him a new pb score. Ollie finished in eleventh place with Euan alongside in twelfth. On 1m Euan had greater success. Just missing out on the final by one placing in ninth position after an excellent round of dives. Ollie finished fourteenth with both boys setting new pb scores for themselves.
Amelie also had a superb competition with pb scores on both the 1m and 3m boards. Finishing eleventh on 1m Amelie then went on to make the final for the 3m event. In the auspicious company of four Olympians and three Commonwealth divers Amelie finished seventh which was a huge achievement.
The trio will represent Great Britain this August at the LEN Junior European Championships in Croatia. This will be the first time for Amelie and Ollie. Euan already has a proven medal record at this competition.
All three divers who are supported by Pilkington Estates are coached by Sally Freeman at the Plymouth Life Centre where the diving facilities are second to none.

National Age Groups
2023-06-22 08:00 - 2023-06-25 17:00 (Europe/London) | Ponds Forge, Sheffield
Plymouth Diving were awarded the Dawdon Shield Trophy for top club at the Swim England Diving National Age Group Championships 2023. As the competition reached the later stages, it looked to be between Plymouth and home club, City of Sheffield. But with a total of seventeen medals won overall across the four days, it was Plymouth who got their hands on the trophy. Plymouth (249.00) and City of Sheffield (217.00) were the only clubs to break the 200-point mark – and Southend Diving were the third placed club with 162.00.

On winning the trophy, Plymouth coach Fito Gutierrez, said: “It’s pretty good. It gives us incentive to keep doing what we’re doing. I think since surviving the pandemic as a club, I’m so glad that all those kids were able to come here and compete. We kept them going for so long and it was so difficult, so I’m very pleased. As a club, it’s like the cherry on the top, it’s fantastic! To see the athletes on the podium is great, but to see them doing their best is what counts and that’s what we’re trying to do – to push them to that level that they might get on the podium or in the top six. That was our target and we achieved that.”

The 4-day competition saw divers from 10-16 years old competing for medals in the 1m, 3m and Platform categories with divers from across the UK. Plymouth Diving selected a team of 17, who had all qualified through regional events were keen to represent their club and demonstrate their ability.

The youngest divers at the event were the D Group Boys and Girls with Harry Westbury, Isla Applin and Alice Jones looking to secure medals. Harry had dived at the finals before and showed his experience with a 4th place in the 1m event and some excellent diving to finish with a bronze medal on 3m. Isla and Alice were competing at this level for the first time and were not fazed at all. Alice produced some solid diving across all three boards finishing 9th on 1m, 7th on 3m and 8th on Platform. But it was Isla who produced the best performance in this group, with some brilliant dives to go super close to a medal with 4th on 1m and Platform. However, she went one better on 3m winning bronze after some great dives.

The Group C events saw Will Heath, Oscar Westbury and Isaac Ide for the boys and Ava Cowper for the girls. Isaac diving in his first finals produced some solid dives to finish 10th on 1m, 12th on 3m and 9th on Platform. Oscar and Will as they have done in previous competitions battled hard on all boards with Oscar winning bronze on 1m and coming 8th on 3m and 4th on Platform. But it was Will who topped this group for Plymouth winning a brilliant silver on 1m, bronze on 3m and coming 5th on Platform, a superb performance. Ava also at her first finals showed her skills and produced good dives all round finishing 9th on 3m and 8th on Platform and just missing out on a medal in 4th on 1m.

Not to be outdone by the younger divers, the more experienced Group B divers of Alex Whittaker, Noah Underwood, Eva Lang, Erin Healey, Rose McCabe and Lexi Davies held their nerve to win a total of nine medals between them. Alex dived well throughout the competition and finished in 8th on 1m, 6th on 3m and 5th on Platform. Noah was the star of the show for the boys with some brilliant diving across all boards. He finished 7th on 1m and won a splendid silver on Platform narrowly missing out on gold. However, on his last dive on 3m he produced arguably the best dive of the whole event with an excellent back 2 ½ somersault in tuck dive scoring a 9 in the process to win a superb gold on 3m. It was the highest score for a single dive during the event and the only one to be awarded a 9 from the judges. The girls also rose to the occasion with Eva, Erin, Rose and Lexi producing more great dives on all boards. Eva finished 16th on 1m, 14th on 3m and 15th on Platform. Rose finished 13th on 1m, 20th on 3m and 17th on Platform. Erin finished 6th on 1m, 7th on 3m and 9th on Platform, with all 3 girls showing their skill with some fantastic dives. However, it was Lexi who stole the show in this group with some excellent diving across all the boards. She won bronze on Platform and a brilliant silver on 3m and was crowned National Age Group Champion on 1m with an outstanding last dive.

Plymouth were aiming for more success in the Group A events with divers Ben Hall, Madeleine Elliott, Tilly Tassart and Ellie Pearce trying to add to the teams’ impressive medal collection, and they didn’t disappoint. Ben produced a string of excellent dives to finish 5th on 3m with a super bronze on both 1m and Platform. Madeleine finished 17th on 1m, 10th on 3m and narrowly missed out on a medal on Platform finishing a brilliant 4th. Tilly only competed on Platform finishing a very respectable 12th. This group also had a sensational diver in Ellie who produced some outstanding dives to finish the event as National Age Group Champion on 1m and 3m.

Aside from the individual success Plymouth also tasted more success in the synchro events with Ava and Isla teaming up to finish 4th in the C/D girl’s competition. In the C/D boys event Will and Oscar won a super silver medal with some amazing synchronisation. Not to be out shone by the younger pairings Ellie and Rose finished 6th in the A/B girls’ event with Erin and Lexi winning bronze. But the A/B boys pairing of Alex and Noah proved too strong for the opposition and won a fantastic gold with yet more excellent diving.

The club would like to say a huge thanks to all the divers, parents and volunteers that have worked tirelessly to help the divers reach their potential. A special thanks to Plymouth Active for the ongoing support and sponsors Pilkington Estates whose financial assistance is invaluable. Finally, to the coaches Tommy Davis, Harry Mason and Fito Gutierrez who have mentored all the divers over the last four days.

Fito was also awarded the Margaret Davies Trophy as the Top Coach of the competition. On winning the award, he added: “You don’t expect it, it’s just something that when it happens, it happens. I’m very pleased and happy that it was me for this competition.”

National Skills
2023-07-15 08:00 - 2023-07-16 17:00 (Europe/London)
Swim England National Skills Final
Leeds

Junior European Diving Championships
2023-08-19 08:00 - 2023-08-22 17:00, 2023-09-05 08:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London)
A sixteen strong team of divers left the UK for Rijeka in Croatia to compete in the Junior European Diving Championships earlier this month. The week long competition concluded on Friday with the three representatives from Plymouth Diving show casing their talent amid 300 plus divers from across the continent.
Ollie Heath delivered the first medal for GB in his opening event on 1m in group B. Against a stunning back drop of the Adriatic Sea his outdoor performance could not have gone better. Finishing the preliminary round in fourth position he remained calm and collected in the final. With all three medallists opting to perform the same final dive, a forward 1 ½ somersaults with 2 twists in the free position, it was Ollie who outperformed the others to take the lead and land the gold medal.
Amelie Underwood comfortably fought against twenty-two other divers to make the final in third position on 3m. Going into the final Amelie had some points to claw back from her required dives which get carried over. Against competitors of this calibre it left Amelie little space to do this but she put in an excellent performance to finish fifth overall with only 6.4 points from a medal. In the 1m event Amelie was once again in contention with twenty-two other divers to make the final in fifth position. With a higher required score from her preliminary dives, Amelie was right in the running. She just missed out on the bronze medal in fourth place by 4.9 points. Amelie was the only group B girl to represent GB in both events and she did this with determination and style.
Having recently formed a new synchro partnership Euan McCabe and Leon Baker from Southampton Diving Academy were ready to put their training into action. The boys 3m synchro event was thrilling and a display of competition at its best. With all three medal pairings going into the event with the same tariff it was always going to be exciting and literally the last dive decided the podium positions. With Ukraine in gold, Italy in silver the GB pair took the bronze medal with a mere 0.96 points between the bronze and gold position. The individual group A 3m event for Euan started with an incredible display of ability in the preliminary round, scoring 535.8 points to finish in second position. In the final, one moments lack of judgement proved fatal when attempting a reverse 3 ½ somersaults. It was judged as a failed dive and sadly cost Euan any hope of a medal.
Ollie ended day six on the 3m board. Coming through the preliminary round with what appeared to be relative ease he knew that the final would not be so simple. Having to follow an impressive last dive by the Ukrainian did not intimidate Ollie in the least. He continued to execute a superb last dive to stand on the podium in silver position.
All three Plymouth divers are coached by Sally Freeman and it is a testament to her coaching ability that all of her divers were able to achieve every final. Ongoing training is supported by Pilkington Estates, the Plymouth Active Leisure Diving Programme coupled with the superb facilities on offer at the Plymouth Life Centre for which Plymouth Diving would like to express their gratitude.

Southampton Invitational
2023-10-21 08:00 - 2023-10-23 17:00 (Europe/London) | The Quays Swimming & Diving Complex, 27 Harbour Parade, Southampton SO15 1BA, Southampton, United Kingdom
Invites from coaches have been sent out

Peter Waterfield Novice Diving Invitational
2023-11-11 | The Quays Swimming & Diving Complex, 27 Harbour Parade, Southampton SO15 1BA, Southampton, United Kingdom
A squad of 24 of the younger members of Plymouth Diving Sponsored by Pilkington Estates
ventured to Southampton to embark on their new competition season in the Peter Waterfield
Skills competition. The squad included 12 of the national finals squad from the previous season
and 10 debutants. Before the competition started the divers presented one of the coaches; Josh
Freeman a leaving card as this was going to be his last competition before embarking on a career
within the Royal Navy and will be sadly missed by all at Plymouth Diving.
The E categories started the event off in front of a large vocal crowd with 9 Plymouth Diving
competitors being involved. The girl’s event was hotly contested with dives being of the highest
calibre and the lead changing many times. When the dust had settled Phoebe-Mae Evans of
Plymouth Diving came out on top with gold producing some lovely dives from the poolside section
especially. Ivy-May Davey also finished on the podium with 3rd place bronze. Finishing in the top
10 was Honor-Grace Kelly in 6 th place, her highest finish to date, Lyra Johnson 8 th place on debut
with an impressive 240.95 points and Bethany Hockaday in 9 th with 238.70. Also, in E girls
debutantes Lacey-May Hocking finished in 14 th place on 222.40, Myia Lilley in 16 th place on 221.85
and Charleigh Sharpe in 21 st place on 184.85. Brilliant scores from all 8 of the Plymouth Diving girl
competitors and they will take a lot of confidence moving forward to the next competitions in the
new year.
E boys had 1 Plymouth Diving competitor and another debutant Bobby Cole who showed great
skill on the boards to produce a strong 4 th placed finish with a score of 229.55 and that will give
him great confidence moving forward.
After the medal ceremony from the session before it was time for the D category girls and boys to
take to the board and just like the first session the Plymouth divers were made up of national
finalists and debutants. The standard of diving was very high and the lead changed on several
occasions, almost a carbon copy of the first session. Once again it was a Plymouth diver that
reached the top at the end with Rae Mossford being crowned with the gold medal excelling on
each of the 1m and 3m boards with some extremely impressive scoring. Like the first session
Plymouth Diving had 2 people on the podium with Isabella Stringer finding herself in 3 rd place with
a score of 269.15 from her twelve dives. Also inside the top 10 was Margot Elliot in 7 th place on
260.65 and Emily Williams in 9 th place scoring 253.85 her personal best placed finish. Finishing
inside the top 20 in the D category were Imogen-Rose Hockings in 14 th place with the score of
243.80, Lottie Tucker 17 th scoring 241.10 and Aneya Burton on her competitive debut with a score
of 238.05 and a 19 th place finish. There were also very well-placed finishes for Ivy dart in 22 nd with
231.05 and another making their first foray into a diving competition Grace Norsworthy in 24 th
position and a score of 226.30.
In the boys D category section were 2 divers making their debuts for Plymouth Diving in the shape
of Noah Lees and Daniel Robinson. Both boys showed great composure in their 12 dives, not being
flustered against some divers who had previous competition experience, which will stand them in
goodsted for future competitions. Noah Lees finished in 5 th place with a score of 223.45 and Daniel
Robinson in 6 th place with a score of 218.45.
As the day went on it was C boys and girls to try and replicate what had happened earlier in the
day and in the boys’ section that is exactly what happened with Alex Jones taking the gold to go
alongside with his national skills title he won back in July, with a score of 275.55 and his 3m dives
scoring a particular highlight from his 12 dives.
C girls were represented by Eva Tsianavas and Abi Bishop. Both girls performed admirably during
their dives in a very strong and competitive field with diving of the highest quality on show. In the
end Eva finished with a top 10 finish in 9 th place on 257.85 and Abi Bishop ending her 12 dives in
12 th place with 247.05 points.
As the day entered the final session with B girls to go onto the boards, it was finally time for the
final Plymouth Diving debut Evie Royal. Entering a competition without any other teammates in
the same category can be a scary one, but it didn't faze her in the slightest producing some really
consistent dives on each of the boards. She finished with a very credible 6 th place finishing on
284.85 points.
Overall Plymouth Diving finished the day with 3 golds, 2 bronzes and 5 other medals for their top 6
finishes. Plymouth Diving would like to thank the two coaches Tommy Davis and Josh Freeman for
taking their time to coach the youngsters in what was for many of them their first competition.
With the continued support from Plymouth Active and Pilkington Estates the future at Plymouth
Diving looks golden.
