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 | 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.

London Legacy Open
2023-11-17 08:00 - 2023-11-20 17:00 | Dive London, London
Plymouth Divers shine at London Legacy Open

London, England – November 17-20th, 2023 by Stefanie Pearson

Plymouth Diving left an indelible mark at the London Legacy Open. The prestigious event, held at the iconic London Aquatics Centre, served as a stage for divers both nationally and internationally.

Plymouth Diving’s athletes demonstrated their prowess in various diving categories, supported by huge cheers from possibly the loudest teammates. Their commitment to excellence was evident throughout the competition, reflecting months of dedicated training from coaches Sally Freeman, Fito Gutierrez and Harry Mason.

With eight podium finishes Plymouth Diving medal winners were: Ollie Heath, who dived up an age group into A group boys. Ollie walked away with a gold medal and a PB, scoring over 500 points on the 3m board, as well as a silver medal on the 1m springboard.
His brother Will Heath also added to the medal tally in the boys C age group with an improvement to his preliminary round scores to claim the gold in the 3m final, and a bronze medal on platform.

Euan McCabe secured the silver medal on the 10m platform after a great scoring last dive resulted in him being a huge 61.7 points ahead of the bronze position having made a recent return to the platform after a hiatus which saw him concentrate on the springboard events during the last year.

A further medal for Plymouth Diving came from Noah Underwood, stepping up to the elite test after he secured a bronze on 3m in the boys B age group, whilst just missing the podium on platform in 4th place and 6th place on 1m.

Not much room was left on the podium in girls A group on the 3m after Amelie Underwood took silver and Katie Martin bronze in a tightly fought battle with four Plymouth Divers taking the eight finals spots. Maia Pearson finished just a point away in 4th and Ellie Pearce just behind in 6th with Scarlett Colbourne diving up an age in 13th. All girls competed again on 1m with Ellie finishing in 5th place in the straight final.

Lexi Davies stepped into her first elite test with a series of excellent dives on all three boards just missing out on the platform by a point but gaining valuable experience going forwards.

Archie Waines moved into his first men’s senior events on the 1m and 3m, diving against experienced athletes but kept his composure with some brilliant diving and supplying great experience for the next competition.

Theo Stevens, diving up an age category performed on the 1m and 3m boards, whereby he just missed out of qualifying for the finals by a fraction of a point.

In addition to their individual successes, Plymouth Diving also excelled in the synchronised diving events. The seamless coordination and synergy displayed by the duos underscored the team’s cohesion with Katie Martin and Maia Pearson placing 4th, and Scarlett Colbourne and Lexi Davies 5th. Family duo Amelie and Noah Underwood also added to the team points collected during the whole event by entering the SuperDave team event and placing 10th, with Plymouth Dive team finishing the team scores in 4th place.

Head Coach Sally Freeman’s leadership at the event played a pivotal role in Plymouth Diving’s success. Her guidance coupled with a keen understanding of each diver’s strengths, propelled the team to achieve their best performances.
“This event arrives very early in the season so was a tough ask of these athletes who stepped up and some standards for 2024 were achieved. For others a first step was made on the journey, but for all it was an important start to their year” said coach Sally.

The London Legacy Open served as qualifier for the British Elites Junior Diving Championships next year and provides insights into areas for improvement. Four of the divers now set their sights on the British Diving Cup held in Edinburgh next month.

Plymouth Diving’s success at the London Legacy Open reinforces their standing in the world of diving and into the season ahead. This was further bolstered by learning that Plymouth Diving won Swim England Dive Cub of the year, and Sally Freeman took the bronze as Coach of the year at the Swim England National Awards 2023 held in Birmingham this weekend.

The club thanks the continued support of Plymouth Active, Plymouth Life Centre as well as sponsors Pilkington Estates.

ESSA
2023-12-09 08:00 - 2023-12-10 17:00 | Manchester, United Kingdom
Trials will be held at the Life Centre on Saturday 14th October from 1pm

British National Diving Cup
2023-12-14 08:00 - 2023-12-17 17:00 | Royal Commonwealth Poole, Edindurgh, 21 Dalkeith Road Edinburgh, EH165BB United Kingdom, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Scottish National Diving Championships inc. the British Diving Cup 2023 Review
Plymouth divers; Amelie Underwood, Euan McCabe, Archie Waines and Ollie Heath were in action representing Plymouth Diving at the Scottish National Diving Championships incorporating the British National Cup, which was held in Edinburgh last weekend. The competition encompassed talented divers across the United Kingdom for juniors and seniors with guest divers from Czechia, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Jamaica and New Zealand. With qualification for the Doha World Championships and consideration for the Paris Olympics at stake, this was a seriously contested event with all of the big names in diving present.
First up was Amelie on the 1m board. Finishing in fourth place overall in the final earnt her a silver junior medal. Amelie went one better on the 3m board to secure herself a gold junior medal. Increasing her preliminary scores on both boards meant that she was a strong contender in the finals.
The men’s 1m and 3m events saw Ollie and Archie up against Olympians such as Jack Laugher. Ollie qualified for both finals beating his personal best scores to do so. He finished sixth out of the juniors on 1m. Ending with a superb reverse 1 ½ somersaults with 2 ½ twists on 3m earnt Ollie a bronze junior medal.
With less exposure at this level than the other Plymouth divers, Archie finished in seventh place in the preliminary round in both of the springboard competitions. Gaining valuable experience and the opportunity to dive against the best of the best.
Euan only returned to the platform last month, after a long spell away from it to focus on springboard. The preliminary round saw Euan finish in second place overall and a whopping 62.8 points ahead of his nearest junior rival. In the final Euan continued to execute a steady and confident set of dives. Pushing his scores for a reverse 3 ½ somersaults and his forward 4 ½ somersault into the eighties. He finished in fourth place overall and won a silver junior medal, only 2.5 points off the gold junior medal.
All of the divers are supported by Pilkington Estates and coached by Sally Freeman at the Plymouth Life Centre where Plymouth Active Leisure offer a superb diving programme.

Armada Cup
2024-02-10 08:00 - 2024-02-13 17:00 | Life Centre, PLYMOUTH, Devon, PL5 3RZ
A thirty strong team of Plymouth divers spent four days of their half term competing in the Pilkington Estates Armada Cup held at the Plymouth Life Centre. In its 24th year it was a chance for the eighteen contending teams to showcase the talent each club has on offer. The event attracted teams from throughout the UK and as far flung as Dubai. 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.
Seth Greentree our youngest and only Age Group D diver entered all three boards. Finishing fifth in the platform preliminary where he made a massive improvement on his previous best score, finishing fourth in the final. The 1m and 3m final resulted in two bronze medals. With a further three gold South West medals to his credit this was a very fruitful competition.
Alice Jones and Teagan Mousley represented the girls Group C Age Group divers. Alice broke her arm in two places at the end of October last year which severely hampered her training. Despite this Alice was determined to compete on 1m and 3m producing some solid dives. Teagan’s best result was on 3m where she finished in seventh position, missing out on the final by a mere 1.55 points. The duo paired up for the 1m synchro and in total scooped two gold, two silver and one bronze South West medals between them.
The Group C Age Group boys included Charlie Clinick, Isaac Ide and Harry Westbury. Charlie improved on his previous best springboard scores and took to the platform for the first time in competition. Isaac had a particularly good result on platform pulling off higher tariff dives and showed signs of steady progress. Harry had an all-round great competition winning a bronze on 3m. His best board was the 1m where he won a silver synchro with Charlie and an individual medal, coupled with three gold South West medals. Charlie and Isaac shared the remaining South West silver and bronze medals between them.
The Age Group B girls had their work cut out due to the amount of contenders they were up against. Eva Lang was impressive on 1m finishing ninth out of thirty. Poppy Jones was the highest placed Plymouth diver on 3m finishing tenth out of twenty-seven, closely followed by Martha Ticehurst and Evie Royal with limited competition experience. On platform Ava Cowper finished a very respectful ninth place out of twenty-six, performing a particularly neat 612C dive. Poppy and Eva also put in a credible platform performance finishing within eight points of Ava. All the girls won at least one South West medal.
The Age Group B boys also did themselves proud. After winning his group at National Skills in 2023 Alex Jones entered his first age group competition which is a huge transition. He made a valiant effort and dealt with the occasion admirably setting a set of scores to build on. Oscar Westbury, Louie McCue and Will Heath all reached the necessary qualification scores to compete in June at the National Age Group finals. Will won the preliminary platform round with Louie in fifth. Upping his game Louie finished the final in fourth. Will was not prepared to budge from the top spot and after a very close and exciting round of dives he topped the podium to win gold alongside his three South West gold medals with Oscar and Louie seizing the rest.
All of the Age Group A girls made a final. Rose McCabe qualified for the 3m final in sixth position, pushing team mate Maddie Elliott into seventh position. Cheered on by her team mates Rose went into the final with a determined spirit to finish fifth. Maddie also finished fifth in the 1m final. Both Maddie and Erin Healey gave incredible performances on platform which resulted in a deserved silver medal for Erin and gold for Maddie. The eight South West medals were shared amongst the three.
New to the elite category this was an important competition for Isla Applin our youngest Junior Elite C diver. In the process of gaining valuable experience Isla qualified to take part in the Junior Elite Championships this coming April.
Noah Underwood in the Junior Elite B section had a very successful few days. Fifth on 1m, a bronze for 3mand a further bronze for platform after giving the crowd a nail biting finish. A great start to his new elite journey.
Lexi Davies and Taluya Verwoolde competed in the Junior Elite B girls, a step up for both girls to try and gain qualifying scores for the Junior Elite Championships. Both fared well against tough opposition. Taluya recently moved to Plymouth and this was her first major competition since settling in. Lexi was on track to make the 1m final with a fabulous opening 401B dive. All was going well until the final dive which resulted in an eighth place finish, followed by Taluya in ninth. Lexi just missing out on the 3m final in seventh.
The expectation for the Group A Junior Elite girls to do well did not disappoint. All of them have now qualified for the Junior Elite Championships. Scarlett Colbourne finished in the top half of the 1m, 3m and synchro event with partner Lexi. Ellie Pearce finished in seventh just missing out on the springboard finals by the slimmest of margins. Not to be outdone by her brother, Amelie Underwood won a silver medal on 1m and a bronze on 3m with a silver synchro alongside her partner Caitlyn Costner from Dive London. Katie Martin and Maia Pearson are seasoned synchro partners with a proven track record. Once again they wowed the audience to win the gold. Maia also achieved great results with two individual finals and a silver 3m medal for Katie.
The Group A Junior Elite boys produced some inspiring dives. Theo Stevens’ best performance was on 3m. He unfortunately missed out on the final in eighth place. Ollie Heath and Archie Waines went on to give the crowd a display of diving at its best in the 3m final. With fewer points carried over from the preliminary round Archie had ground to make up. Undeterred he ploughed on and gave a steady but proficient performance to claw back points and win the bronze medal. Ollie’s final dive a 5335D whilst beautiful was not enough to put him in a medal position, just missing out in fourth. On the opening day of the Armada Cup Ollie had already put claim to the bronze 1m medal where he fought hard to regain points in the final and put himself in contention for a medal. Archie finished fifth on 1m.
Jon Pilkington made it possible for Plymouth Diving to host an event of this size. His generous sponsorship is invaluable for which we are truly grateful for.
Plymouth Diving would like to thank Outland Road Morrisons, Friary Mill Bakery and Fruity Roots who contributed towards the refreshments for the volunteers and officials. Plymouth Active Leisure 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, judges and volunteers.

8 Nations
2024-03-22 08:00 - 2024-03-23 17:00 | Turin, Turin, Italy
Last week a ten strong British diving team competed in the Eight Nations Youth
Diving Meet in Turin. The two day competition gave the 14-18 year old
springboard divers the opportunity to compete against athletes from France,
Italy, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Amelie Underwood from Plymouth Diving, who is coached by Sally Freeman
and supported by Pilkington Estates is already an accomplished British diver
and once again proved her worth as a force to be reckoned with.
Producing one of her best ever rounds of dives on the 3m board, Amelie
finished in third position to claim the bronze medal. Closely behind her was
team mate Libby Duke from Edinburgh Diving Club.
Amelie joined fellow British diver Caitlyn Coster from Dive London Aquatics
Club for the 3m synchro event. The fledgling pairing just missed out on a
medal to finish in fourth position.
Following on from a great opening day Amelie could not have executed a more
consistent round of dives on 1m. Not one to be intimidated by her German
counterparts her steady and confident performance paid off. With the second
and third positions changing hands throughout it came down to the last dive to
decide on the podium position. Lying in third position Amelie performed her
closing dive, an inward 1 ½ somersault pike with greater finesse than her
nearest rival to bump her up to a silver medal with the Germans in first and
third.

Southwest Regional Skills
2024-03-23 | Life Centre, PLYMOUTH, Devon, PL5 3RZ
This weekend all eyes were on the Plymouth Life Centre where it hosted the South West
Regional Skills diving competition. Plymouth Diving sponsored by Pilkington Estate were
extremely well represented at the event from debutant divers aged 8 to the eldest member in
the young squad aged 14 all hoping to emulate Plymouth Diving greats Tom Daley and
Tonia Couch and make it to the very top of the diving boards . The competition which
consists of a 12 dive circuit with competitors providing dives, from 1 and 3 metre boards as
well as high poolside is the first opportunity for divers to try and qualify for their National
Finals in July being held in Southend.
It was the youngest members of the squad to take to the pool first in the E category and in
front of a large crowd they produced a real spectacle. This category was featuring 5
debutants all of whom are the youngest members of the competition squad performing with
great confidence in their 12 dive routine scoring extremely well with Millie McLaren Smith
finishing in 8th place with a score 226.65, Saphia Howells 7th Place on 229.50 and Olivia
Birkett finishing 6th place on 229.65. Fifth and fourth places belonged to, two more
debutants at this level in Aria Cole on 250.25 and Katie-Rose Wilkingson finishing on
259.40, both Aria and Katie-Rose achieved a monumental moment finishing with enough
points to qualify for their 1st national finals. The medal positions were a close fought battle
throughout, in the end it was Ivy-May Davey who upgraded a bronze medal she achieved
earlier in the season to a gold medal with an impressive display of diving from 3m board and
create a new PB in the process with a score 280.55. 1 point separated Silver and bronze
medals with Bethany Hockaday surpassing her own personal best by 10 points to secure
the silver medal finishing with a score 271.70 and rounding off the podium position was
Lacey-Mae Hockings on a score of 270.05 with another diver impressing on 3m board and
increasing her PB by a considerable amount,all 3 girls on the podium confirming their
participation at Southend in July.
Another large participating category was next up in the form of the D category which
featured both a boys and girls section. The open section of the category featured 3 boys
from Plymouth diving, all diving superbly throughout the 3 disciplines. It was Bobby Cole
taking the gold medal with a fantastic score of 291.55 and in the process joining his younger
sister in qualifying for his 1st National Final event too. Silver and bronze medals had two
theo’s taking them, with Theo Todd winning silver on 253.45 and Theo Wills score of 243.70
enough to collect the bronze medal, fantastic results from them both on their competition
debut.
D girls was a hotly contested event with many divers collecting some very high scores from
the judges. The event saw Phoebe-Mae evans collect the first 9 of the competition, Aneya
burton score 3×9’s from a back tuck roll from the 3m board, 7 competitors from Plymouth
Diving scoring over the qualifying score to book their places in their age group finals and all
9 of them creating new PB’s. The medal results was a close run thing with less than 14
points separating the top 5 positions, with Aneya Burton claiming the gold with a score of
293.55 from her 12 dives, Emily Williams finished in silver medal position 0.8 points behind
the winner on 292.75. Bronze medal was collected by Imogen-Rose Hocking to match her
younger sister earlier in the day finishing with a score of 285.45, particularly looking strong
on the 3m board. Beating her personal best by over 20 points to finish 4th was Honor-Grace
Kelly scoring an impressive 282.30, closely followed by Phoebe-Mae Evans in 5th position
scoring 279.70 with her high poolside dives drawing big scores from the 3 judges. Rounding
off the divers who have qualified for their National Finals was Stephaine Clarke finishing in
6th place with a superb score of 272.60 very impressive considering it was her first
competition and Myia Lilley who dived with terrific consistency throughout her 12 dives and
creating a new personal best score of 264.65 to find herself in 7th place. Finishing
tantalisingly close to making qualification score was Lyra Johnson in 8th position with 250.40
and Charleigh-May Sharpe finishing in 9th position on 248.45, but both girls increased their
own personal best scores and will be looking forward to their next events.
C Category for girls and boys who were born in 2011 and 2012 were next to show the crowd
and judges what they could do off the diving boards in trying to qualify for the finals. Just like
the previous two events, it was a brilliant display of diving. The Medal position for the girls
section was only separated by 14 points but just like earlier in the season in their season
opening event Rae Mossford came out on top of the podium with the biggest score out of all
the girls on the day of 308.65. with a stunning front 1 and half off the 1m board a particular
highlight of her dives. Another Plymouth diving competitor tipping the score over 300 mark
was Margot Elliot finishing in the silver medal position and getting the results from all her
hard work with her coach the last few months with a superb display of consistency across
the 3 disciplines. Both medalists will be joined in Southend by 3rd place Isla Newton scoring
an impressive 294.25 and Isabella Stringer finishing just outside the medal places on a score
of 292.00 with her 3m being a strong board for her. Two more increased personal best
scores were achieved in the girls section with Lottie Tucker finishing in 6th place with a final
score of 260.70 and Grace Norsworthy in 8th position on 252.35.
Only the 1 boy from Plymouth Diving competed in the open C category section. This was
Daniel Robinson who took home the gold with a score of 265.10 looking very assured on the
3m board.
There was only one boy from Plymouth Diving in the open B category, with Kaiwen Dunn
holding hopes of gaining enough points to take his place again at yet another National Final
for himself. Unlike the previous categories, B category is only judged from dives off the 1m
and 3m boards. Being by himself didn't faze Kaiwen, cheered on by the crowd and his
coach, producing 10 incredible dives on his way to a gold medal and score of 347.50 and
securing his place in the finals too.
With 18 Plymouth Divers securing their places in their respective National Finals, 28
personal best scores and 8 competitive competition debuts, it was an incredibly succuessful
day of diving for all concerned. The competition highlights that the future of diving in
Plymouth is very bright, along with the incredible continued support from sponsor Pilkington
Estates and Plymouth Active Leisure will hopefully yield even more success in July.
The Divers were coached by Sally Freeman, Fito Gutierrez, Tommy Davis, Cody Powell
Tuckett, Lucy Gutierrez and Ebony Colbourne. Plymouth would like to extend thanks and
appreciation to the coaches, judges and volunteers behind the scenes able to make the
competition run so well.

British Junior Elites Championships 2024
2024-04-11 08:00 - 2024-04-14 17:00 | Sandwell Aquatics, Brimingham
The British Junior Elite Championship, a pivotal competition on the performance pathway, invites the top junior divers from across the nation to the prestigious event.
Plymouth Diving sent a team of ten, who showcased their talent, hard work, and dedication at this year’s championship, a four-day event held at Sandwell Aquatics Centre, home of the 2022 Commonwealth Games from 11th-14th April. Guided by coaches Fito Gutierrez and Sally Freeman who added “We are really pleased to have qualified a big team this year and went with high expectations of good diving as the divers have worked really hard to increase difficulty and work on consistency to try to achieve finals and medals. To come away with both of these is really rewarding”’.
The competition began with Oliver Heath and Archie Waines competing on the 1m event in the A (16-18) category. Heath and Waines both advanced to the finals later in the day, finishing in 4th and 8th place respectively with new personal bests and an impressive set of dives.
Both continued their successful performances by competing again the following day on the 3m board. They again progressed to the finals, with Heath winning the bronze medal with an impressive 504 points.
Noah Underwood, in his first Junior Elites competition in B group (14-16), competed on all three boards with morning preliminaries followed by afternoon finals over the four days, achieving 4th place on the 3m and platform, and setting a couple of personal bests.
Having joined Plymouth Diving in September, Taluyah Verwoolde enjoyed her first Junior Elites, competing as a guest for Netherlands under her club PSV Schoonspringen. Verwoolde dived in B-group girls on 1m achieving a PB, and on 3m.
Isla Applin enjoyed her debut at this level of competition in C group (9-13) girls, 1m, 3m and synchro events, diving in prelims followed by finals, and achieving a PB on 3m. Applin later partnered with Ella Swete from Southampton Diving Academy in the 9-13 age synchro event on 3m, walking away with the bronze medal.
Plymouths A-girls saw our largest field, with five divers competing in the 1m and 3m events. In a large group of 23 divers, Amelie Underwood reached finals on both boards, and continued her consistent skills to win two individual medals, bronze on 1m and a silver on 3m. Scarlett Colbourne secured herself a place on the 3m final with a beautiful set of dives and finished in 7th place with a personal best.
Team-mate Katie Martin competed on 3m and reached the final on 1m, finishing just off the podium in 4th place with a personal best. Maia Pearson and Ellie Pearce joined the Plymouth team on both 1m and 3m events, where the finals where in sight to the last dives.
The 14-18 age group synchronized diving competition was won by duo Katie Martin and Maia Pearson. They demonstrated their strong proven partnership with a final dive that secured them the gold medal, marking their last Junior Elites competition. Amelie Underwood and her partner Caitlyn Coster from Dive London also performed well, earning a bronze medal and joining Martin and Pearson on the podium.
In addition to executing their dives under pressure to the highest standard, the team displayed a real team spirit supporting each other throughout the long days.
From standout performances by individual divers to the success of synchronized teams, their achievements underscored the collective effort and dedication.
As always, thanks to the coaches Sally Freeman and Fito Gutierrez, and Plymouth Active, as well as sponsors Pilkington Estates.

GBDF Masters
2024-04-12 08:00 - 2024-04-14 17:00 | Life Centre, PLYMOUTH, Devon, PL5 3RZ
Back On Board!
The Plymouth Life Centre hosted the Great Britain Diving Federation Spring Masters last weekend. The two day event proved to be popular with several divers from Plymouth who all dived in the 16-29 year old category. In their heyday all of them represented Plymouth Diving at either Age Group or Elite National competitions.
Harry Mason competed at the Spring Masters last year in Southend where he won a 1m gold and a 3m silver medal. Entering only 24 hours before this year’s event, Mason and Tommy Davis put on a platform masterclass. Both received a slew of 8’s on their ambitious dive lists. Winning the gold medal, Mason just pushed Davis into the silver position. Davis was a massive 82.8 points ahead of the bronze contestant -making it hard to believe that he last competed in 2019.
Connor West joined Mason on 3m to give the audience another great display of diving. Once again Mason finished first to make it a double gold, improving on his 2023 results. West took the silver medal and performed the dive of the meet, nailing a reverse 2.5 somersaults in tuck – one of the most difficult dives executed all weekend – which received a colossal score of 57.4 – the highest of the championships.
Cody Powell-Tuckett, Evie McCabe and Abby Fishleigh prematurely retired from competition in 2020 due to the pandemic and the lack of training facilities at the time in Plymouth.
At her peak Powell-Tuckett was an outstanding diver winning a plethora of medals, representing England and Great Britain on numerous outings. Powell-Tuckett put on a solid and consistent platform display which saw every judge awarding her nothing below a 6 on all her dives. Particularly impressive was her inward 1.5 somersaults which scored a huge 54 points. To that effect, she was full value for a silver medal after finishing only 10 points behind stiff competition in the form of the RAF’s Charlotte Goodman. McCabe who was the only diver from Plymouth to take on all three boards was awarded the bronze platform medal.
Just like old times McCabe and Fishleigh were closely matched on the 1m and 3m springboard. Fishleigh just edged ahead of McCabe on 3m to win the bronze medal with McCabe in fourth. The nail-biting 1m event was hotly contested with positions changing throughout. McCabe jointly finished in second to claim the silver medal which nudged Fishleigh into fourth.
Joel Trenchard is a Plymouth Diving volunteer and was the GBDF Communications Director and Officials Lead at the event. Speaking after the event he had this to say:
It was a joy for the annual GBDF Spring Masters Championships to be hosted at Plymouth Life Centre. Being able to witness some of Plymouth’s finest talent from the pre-COVID days take to the boards again was indescribably special, with parents and young divers showing up in huge numbers to cheer on their now-coaches and their diving did not disappoint! The competition has generated massive excitement and enthusiasm for Masters Diving in Plymouth, from coaches to lifeguards to parents. Hopefully we will see Plymouth’s ex-stars continue to shine in future competitions.

Dresden and America Cup 2024
2024-04-25 08:00 - 2024-04-28 17:00
The end of April proved to be busy with competitions for three Plymouth divers. Our junior divers Amelie Underwood and Ollie Heath headed off to Dresden in Germany for the 11th Youth International Meet. Sally Freeman also from Plymouth Diving joined them as the Head Coach for the meet.
Group A1 divers Underwood and Heath made their debut for GBR at this competition last year. Both divers were selected for the Mixed Team Event and joined Hannah Newbrook from Dive London and Robbie Wood from City of Sheffield Diving. The quartet proved to be a good choice and complemented each other to secure the silver medal.
The individual rounds for Underwood and Heath were always going to be a challenge. Being the youngest in their category with a three year spread of ages and a lot less experience than the A3 divers. However, undaunted they absolutely gave it their best which was reflected in the results. Ollie finished the 3m preliminary event in 10th position out of 33. Upping his finish position to 8th in the final with a massive score of 501 points. Heath was not as well prepared for the 1m board because he had to step in to replace a fellow team mate at the last moment. Nonetheless he finished a respectable 16th out of 28 and got to trial some new dives.
Underwood had a very busy competition competing in four events. Caitlyn Coster from Dive London joined Underwood for the 3m synchro. Unfortunately Underwood struck her foot on the board on one of the dives and the pair finished in 8th position. Nursing a painful foot did not prevent her from qualifying in 12th position out of 35 to reach the 1m final. Delivering a confident set of final dives she finished in 9th place as the highest GBR contestant. The final day for Underwood was impressive. Into the 3m final with relative ease after finishing 4th out of 32. With a battle between four divers for the bronze medal Underwood just missed out in 5th by a shortfall of 1.05 points.
Meanwhile across the pond Euan McCabe was competing in the American Cup held in Indianapolis. Pairing up with Ben Cutmore from Dive London for the 10m synchro the duo were unbeatable. Performing the hardest dive list with the only forward 4 ½ somersault tuck in play they rightfully took the gold medal. McCabe also put in a sterling effort in the 10m individual round. Finishing in 7th position would have got him into the final if it had not been for the fact that only two GBR divers could qualify.
All three divers are coached by Sally at the Life Centre which has excellent diving facilities. The club is supported by Plymouth Active Leisure and Pilkington Estates.

South East Regional Age Groups
2024-05-06 08:00 - 17:00 | The Quays, Southampton
Plymouth Diving supported by Pilkington Estates and Plymouth Active took a strong team of 17 divers to compete at the Southeast Regional Age Group event in Southampton. The event provides the opportunity for the Age Group divers to test themselves against divers from across the south and southeast and try to meet the qualification standard for the National Finals. The competition was fierce with some fantastic performances from the Plymouth divers with the fantastic support of their coaches Tommy Davis and Cody Powell-Tuckett.
The A category for 16 to 18 year-olds saw Ben Hall produce some outstanding dives on all boards and test some of his new high difficulty dives. He finished with 2 medals securing bronze in both the 1m and Platform events while nearly making it a hat-trick of medals on 3m where he finished 4th. Rose McCabe was also in action on the Platform and was aiming to hit the scores needed to be in the running for the National Finals, she performed some great dives and finished 7th in a tough category but did get the scores needed. Erin Healey was also competing on all boards aiming to test her new dives and did an amazing job securing 3 top 10 finishes. She finished in 10th on 1m and 6th on 3m but her best performance was undoubtably in the Platform event where she narrowly missed out on a medal in 4th.
The bulk of the Plymouth team were in the B category for 14 and 15 year olds Lexi Davies, Eva Lang, Evie Royal, Martha Ticehurst, Poppy Jones, Lincoln Stephens, Will Heath and Oscar Westbury competed. Eva, Evie and Martha produced very good dives on all boards while testing new dives in a competitive environment, with all 3 divers securing scores to be selected for the National Finals. From the girls it was Lexi and Poppy who stole the show. Lexi was aiming to test some big new dives especially in the 3m event where she was competing backwards 2.5 somersaults for the first time. Nerves were evident but she produced a brilliant performance to win gold, having already secured the bronze in the 1m event. Poppy dived well in the 3m and Platform events, but she saved her best for the 1m event where she produced the best dives of her life and won gold.
This category also saw Oscar, Lincoln and Will dive with all 3 doing some excellent dives to hit the required scores. The 3 Plymouth divers spent most of the weekend fighting each other for the medal positions, with Lincoln just missing out to the more experienced duo of Oscar and Will, finishing 4th in the 1m and 3m events. That left Oscar and Will swapping positions throughout each event. Oscar with some brilliant dives ended the weekend with a medal of each colour winning bronze in the 3m, silver in the Platform and a well-deserved gold in the 1m event. In the platform event Will, despite hitting the board with his feet, recovered to win gold. He also won a bronze in the 1m event and a brilliant silver on 3m to complete his set of medals with some superb diving.
In the C category for 12 and 13 year olds Alice Jones, Teagan Mousley, Isaac Ide, Harry Westbury and Charlie Clinick competed. Alice having not long recovered from a serious broken arm, dived well and learnt some valuable lessons for the future. Teagan was hoping to build on experience and dived well across all 3 boards with 2 top 10 finishes and narrowly missing out on a medal finishing in 4th on 3m. For the boys Charlie dived wel on all 3 boards and gained some valuable experience in the competitive setting with 3 top 10 finishes. Isaac also produced some good dives finishing in the top 5 on 1m and 3m. He saved his best for the platform event where he won a fantastic bronze medal. Harry rounded out the C category for Plymouth with a 4th place finish on the Platform and 2 medals in the other events. He won bronze in the 3m event and had some excellent dives on 1m to win a gold with national scores achieved on all boards.
The youngest divers in the competition were in the D category for 10 and 11 year olds with Seth Greentree representing Plymouth. He had an amazing weekend making the top 5 on all 3 boards. He finished the weekend with an excellent 5th place on 1m and bronze on platform. To top a brilliant event for Plymouth Seth produced a great performance on 3m and won gold to cap a brilliant team performance from all the divers.
Overall, the weekend was a resounding success for the Plymouth divers and bodes well for the National Finals in Birmingham in June 2024, where Plymouth Diving will be aiming to retain the title of Best Age Group Diving Club in England.

South East Regional Skills
2024-05-18
Pilkington Estate sponsored Plymouth Diving were once again in action, but this time 22 of the youngest members of the club travelled to Royal Tunbridge Wells to take part in South East Regionals. Supported by Plymouth Active Leisure, coaches Cody Powell-Tuckett and Lucy Gutierrez-Freeman had the task of overseeing 12 dives from each of the 24 Plymouth competitors. Heavy traffic on the motorways the day before and a competition running 2 hours behind schedule certainly didn’t hinder morale or spirits of any of the divers throughout the day.
In front of large vocally supporting crowd in a small venue E girls got Plymouth Diving interests in the competition underway. 7 of Plymouth divers including debutant Eva Coleman had to deal with a large pause during the session due to technical problems, but once underway the Plymouth divers showed great composure and consistency in all their dives. Once all the scores were manually totalled up due to the technical problems at the venue and having to wait over 2 hours for the results to be confirmed, Lacey-Mae Hockings found herself on the podium finishing in an incredible 3rd place next to 2 national finalists from last year. Inside the top 10 was also Ivy-May Davey in 5th position,Bethany Hockaday finished 6th and Olivia Birkett finishing in 9th place and scoring enough points to book her place at the National Finals. Just outside the top 10 was Aria Cole finishing 11th and Eva Coleman with an outstanding 14th place in her first competition. Saphia Howells and Katie-Rose Wilkinson rounded off the Plymouth Divers in the category with excellent 19th and 21st respectively.
D girls category was split into 2 groups based on year of birth. D1 category for divers who were born in 2014 had 5 Plymouth divers competing in it, with every diver finishing in the top half of the leaderboard when the results were finalised. There was another medalist from Plymouth in Phoebe-Mae Evans who dived her way into silver medal with her 3m springboard dives, a particular highlight even scoring a 9 from one of the judges in the process. Honor-Grace Kelly once again provided consistency in another top 10 finish finding herself in 6th place whilst being joined in the top 10 by Stephanie Clarke with a strong 8th position and Lyra Johnson in 10th scoring enough points to meet National Final qualification. Finishing just outside the top 10 was Myia Lilley who ended up in 12th place respectively only missing out on a top 10 place by 2 points.
D2 girls had Imogen-Rose Hocking and Ivy Dart competing in the category with the latter trying to meet the qualification score to compete at the National Finals in July. With diving of the highest quality with a couple divers scoring the rare 10’s for a dive, the competition was fierce but Ivy and Imogen didn’t let that worry them, producing excellent dives to get the top 10. Imogen, who was fighting illness, looked very strong in her poolside section finishing in 10th place and Ivy produced a fantastic one and half pike from 1m to sail her into the Final and an 8th place finish too.
Bobby Cole, Theo Wills and Theo Todd who all had waited 4 hours for the chance to compete in their D1 category certainly didn’t let the long wait hinder their performances in the pool. They all competed brilliantly and held their own in what was a very big category. Theo Wills was very unlucky not to finish inside the top 10 missing out by 0.75 points and finishing 11th. Bobby Cole a previous medalist in the last competition finished in 5th position producing a consistent scores throughout his 12 dives, but it was Theo Todd a recent diver of the month at Plymouth Diving who found himself on the podium placing in 2nd position not only did he receive the silver medal but his score was good enough for him to attend the National Finals.
As the day wore into the late afternoon it was the chance for C1 girls to finally get underway. Representing Plymouth Diving was Lottie Tucker and Grace Norsworthy who were both looking to make the qualification score to attend their finals in Southend. Grace Norsworthy who was another struggling with illness fell just sort of getting enough points to attend the final finishing in a very respectable 21st place in what was a large category. Lottie Tucker produced some terrific dives in all 3 sections to finish inside the top 10 but more importantly she gained enough points to meet the qualification score and complete her competition in 10th place.
Plymouth Diving’s final boy was Daniel Robinson in the C1 category. Daniel, another previous medallist, was another one to fall just short of not just a place on the podium but also just shy of the qualification score to get himself to Southend in July. He did produce a consistent 12 dives but narrowly misses out.
C2 girls was the final event of the day and it was Isla Newton’s turn to impress the judges with 12 dives and she did just that, in what was the largest single category of the day Isla Newton got into the top 10 finishing in 8th place with a score of 271.85.
A very successful day for Plymouth Diving overall, with a large number of competitors next event being the National Finals in July.

European Aquatics Championships
2024-06-14 08:00 - 2024-06-24 17:00
Plymouth’s Euan McCabe and coach Sally Freeman have just returned from the European Aquatics Championships held in Belgrade, with 107 athletes competing from 26 countries.
The results of the 14-day meet confirmed that the Great Britain team are a force to be reckoned with after placing at the top of the diving medal table and finishing second overall for the team trophy. After earlier success in the American Cup, McCabe once again teamed up with Ben Cutmore from Dive London for the 10m synchro.
The temperature throughout the week was high and during their event, it approached 37° which was a battle in itself, adding to the constant changes in wind, sun position, flying insects that all pose challenges in an outdoor competition.
After round two the pair were lying in first position and looked set for success. Over the next 4 rounds they dropped to sixth, moved up to fifth, back up to fourth but were determined to claw back points they battled on. Their gritty determination paid off and their final dive, which held the highest difficulty of all teams, proved to be the right choice and pushed them up into bronze medal position.
A fantastic first outing at senior European level for McCabe and full credit to his more experienced partner Cutmore who was superb all week in his other events and a credit to coach Stephen Hewat.

National Age Groups 2024
2024-06-27 08:00 - 2024-06-30 17:00 | Sandwell Aquatics, Brimingham
Last week around 170 athletes from across 20 teams headed to Sandwell Aquatics Centre for the Swim England Diving National Age Group Championships. Plymouth Diving sent a worthy team of fifteen talented participants. It is an achievement in itself just to qualify for this competition and divers work hard all year to take part. Attending other competitions across the country in order to qualify is made possible by the support of Pilkington Estates.
Seth Greentree our youngest and only group D diver entered all three individual boards. At his first NAGS Seth achieved incredible results. Finishing sixth on 1m, fourth on platform with a bronze medal for 3m. If this wasn’t enough Seth teamed up with group C diver Harry Westbury where the successful pairing were adorned with a silver medal. Harry also achieved a top 6 finish on the 1m board and joined fellow group C diver Isaac Ide on the 3m and platform where they achieved consistent scores.
In a very large pack, the five B girls representing the club had their work cut out. Our youngest B girl, Poppy Jones had the added pressure of her first NAGS. Poppy did particularly well on 1m with a twelfth place finish out of thirty and a respectable eighteenth out of twenty-eight on 3m. Martha Ticehurst and Eva Lang also took to all three boards. Martha’s best result was on 1m finishing in the top two-thirds with Eva in a comfortable eleventh place. Eva dived confidently throughout and made huge personal progress, conquering mental blocks to perform several challenging dives. Evie Royal our least experienced diver did herself proud finishing seventh on the 1m and 3m board. Lexi Davies an accomplished diver had two top five finishes and a bronze medal for platform.
At their first NAGS group B boys Lincoln Stephens and Louie McCue took to all 3 boards. Louie achieved a PB score for 1m. The highlight for Lincoln and Louie was without doubt their 3m bronze medal. Will Heath started his group B events with a trip to casualty. Injuring himself prior to the 3m event meant he had to withdraw. After his disappointing start Will was back with determination for platform. He could not have dived any better, securing the gold medal. In a close fought 1m event Will finished in fifth – only 3.8 points off the bronze medal.
Ben Hall our only group A boy was ninth on 1m and a commendable sixth on 3m. Recently finishing his A levels Ben has decided to retire from diving to go off on his travels. He first competed back in 2019 and has amassed several medals during his diving journey.
The three group A girls dived in every event open to them. With a PB on 3m Maddie Elliott secured the bronze medal. 3m also proved to be the most successful board for Erin Healey in tenth position out of twenty-two closely followed by Rose McCabe in eleventh. Rose’s best individual finish was ninth on 1m out of a pack of twenty-seven. Rose paired up with Lexi from group B for the first time and were overjoyed to win the 3m synchro gold medal in a popular event. Erin and Maddie finished in ninth.
Notably the Plymouth Active Leisure diving scheme has produced a flexible group of divers with the majority of the team competing across all three boards demonstrating their vast range of ability. Talent has to be nurtured by coaches and credit has to be given to Tommy Davis, Fito Gutierrez and Cody Powell-Tuckett. Plymouth Diving was also represented by judges Mark Jones and Joel Trenchard.

Junior European Championship
2024-07-08 08:00 - 2024-07-13 17:00 | Poland
Just over a week ago a fourteen strong team of divers left the UK for Rzeszów in Poland to compete in the Junior European Diving Championships. The week long competition concluded on Sunday. Amelie Underwood from Plymouth Diving went eagerly with the ambition to improve on last year’s performance when she qualified for both springboard finals – just missing out on medals. The opening event this year was the Mixed Team Event. Alongside Amelie was Hannah Newbrook, Noah Penman and Robbie Wood all from other clubs across the UK. The team worked well together to finish comfortably in third position to win the bronze medal.
Next up for Amelie was the 3m synchro with fellow athlete Caitlyn Coster from Dive London Aquatics Club. Already a proven successful pairing at the British Junior Elite Championships in April, it was no surprise that they added another bronze medal to their collection. The key to their success was a consistent set of scores against 9 other duos.
The final day saw Amelie compete in the group A 3m individual event. Finishing in ninth place out of twenty-one secured a spot in the final. Going into the final Amelie had her work cut out. With the points carried over from her first five dives in the preliminary round, Amelie found herself starting at the bottom in twelfth position. Divers spend hours of training perfecting required dives to try and ensure a good starting position in the final. Against competitors of this calibre, it left Amelie little hope of a medal. Knowing this did not affect Amelie’s fighting spirit and she put in a valiant effort to finish ninth overall. Amy Wright from City of Leeds Diving Club finished one position higher in eighth.
Amelie is coached by Sally Freeman and it is a testament to her coaching ability that Amelie improved on last year’s performance to win two bronze medals. 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.

National Skills Finals 2024
2024-07-13 08:00 - 2024-07-14 17:00 | Southend
19 of Plymouth Diving’s youngest members of the club made their way to Southend to part take in their National Finals. Accompanied by coaches Tommy Davis, Lucy Gutierrez-Freeman and Jaime Conn they youngsters made the long journey hoping to emulate the success of their elder club mates from the previous weeks Finals.
Alarms were set very early for many of the Plymouth divers on the Saturday as the first session of the Finals featured 14 of the club’s divers against the rest of Britian’s diving clubs. In front of a large crowd Plymouth Diving had 5 representatives in the D1 category which got the finals underway. The girls who are aged 9 and 10 looked composed throughout the competition with all 5 of them finishing in the top 15, with Myia Lilley finishing highest out of the Plymouth divers with a remarkable 4th placed finishing 4 points off a podium place. Top 10 finishes for Stephanie Clarke who finished in 7th place and Phoebe-May Evans one place behind her teammate in 8th position. Rounding of the top 15 results was Lyra Johnson who finished in 12th place and Honor-Grace Kelly cementing a top 15 place by finishing in 14th place.
Next off the diving boards was the E girls and this just like the first category Plymouth was well represented in it. The 6 Plymouth divers who aged 9 and under showed no signs of nerves in front of the judges and crowd, producing a fantastic display of diving. Plymouth had reason to cheer when the results had been finalised with Lacey-Mae Hocking and Ivy-May Davey both finding themselves in the top 10 with superb 4th and 6th place finishes respectively. Making it inside the top 15 of this very tough group was two of the youngest members of the squad in Olivia Birkett who placed very well in 14th position and Aria Cole making up the top 15 with her 15th place. Bethany Hocking came up just short of the top 15 in 16th place and Katie-Rose Wilkinson finished in 22nd position but gained a vast amount of competition experience just by making it to her 1st final.
Rounding off the Saturday morning session was the D2 girls. Once again, the standard of diving was extremely high with many divers in contention of medalling but unfortunately Plymouth Diving didn’t quite get to the medals this time, but were celebrating two more girls finishing inside the top 10 as Emily Williams dived herself into 6th place and Ivy Dart competing for the last time before her families move to Australia finished in 9th position. Also finishing in the top half of the category was Imogen-Rose Hocking who put in a determine diving display considering the week before competition found herself on crutches due to injury, only deciding to compete the morning of the final’s finished in 15th place and Aneya Burton one place behind her in 16th but gained more valuable experience in her first season of competing for Plymouth.
Once the morning session had finished, it was the turn of C1 girls to get the afternoon session started. Three Plymouth divers were involved in this category, and it was a very tight affair for the podiums again which did feature one Plymouth Diver in Rae Mossford who got on the podium curtesy of her skills of the 3m board. Close behind Rae and narrowly missing out on the medals in 4th place was Margot Elliot who once again provided great consistency in all her dives. Final diver of the Plymouth trio was Lottie Tucker who got into the Top 20 in 20th position.
Plymouth Diving’s interest was due to end in morning session on the final day in this year’s National Finals with the final two competitors taking to the boards in D1 open. Theo Todd and Bobby Cole attending their first National Finals dived with great confidence throughout with Theo Todd ending the competition on top of the podium taking the gold medal and Bobby Cole narrowly missing out on the podium place having to settle for 5th position.
Plymouth Diving would like to take the opportunity to thank sponsor Pilkington Estate for the ongoing support and Plymouth Active for the continued use of the excellent facilities which is allowing youngsters to flourish in diving. Huge thanks go to the coaches who without them, divers wouldn’t be able to excel and to Joel Trenchard for his expertise in judging.

Roma Junior Diving Cup
2024-07-24 08:00 - 2024-07-26 17:00
PLYMOUTH DIVERS SHINE IN ROME
The Roma Junior Diving Cup 2024 was a highly anticipated event, marking Plymouth Diving’s first international competition as a club since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For all but one of the divers, this was their first experience competing abroad in an outdoor pool. Competing in Italy’s capital, the divers faced the challenge of performing in the Olympic pool with temperatures soaring above 35 degrees Celsius. Despite these conditions, the team not only gained valuable competitive experience but also strengthened their bonds, creating a supportive and encouraging environment.
Coach Fito Gutierrez, whose dedication to the team is unparalleled, played a crucial role in this endeavour. He enabled the team to participate by taking his annual leave, showcasing his commitment to the divers. “It was a must; they deserved this opportunity. They all had a fantastic time, and I am so proud of them, and the many friendships they have made. I am glad we made this happen” said Fito following the competition.
The team, in turn, had embarked on a huge fundraising campaign which was testament to the teams determination itself, receiving support from local businesses such as Vista Flooring, Doorcare South West, TEC Construction, Trade Choice South West, Beaumont DryLining, KW Chartered Surveyors & Building Surveyors, as well as generous support from family and friends and donations from bag packing at Morrisons on Outland road. This collective effort made the trip possible and highlighted the community’s support for the young athletes.
Isla Applin, the only C group girl from Plymouth, kicked off the competition for the club on the 3m springboard. Isla started strong and maintained her performance against a formidable field, finishing in sixth place. Putting the morning’s dives aside, she had to compete again in the afternoon on the platform where she was just off medal position in fourth place but a great PB. She showcased her versatility and resilience, concluding her events on the 1m the following day with another close fourth place.
Noah Underwood was next up as the sole male competitor in the B boys category. Demonstrating impressive skill and determination throughout his events, Noah was agonizingly close to a medal on the 3m board, just a point and a half shy. However, the following day was fruitful as Noah stood on the podium with a bronze medal, including a great 2.5 somersault pike on the 1m board.
Lexi Davies and Evie Royal made up the B girls divers. Lexi began her competition on the platform, with a silver medal after a strong set up dives. Having secured her first medal, Lexi followed this with another medal, this time a bronze on the 1m board and a fifth position on 3m. Teammate Evie also competed on both the 1m and 3m demonstrating lovely dives and strong finishes with a PB on both.
The largest contingent Plymouth sent was for the A girls, where we saw significant successes with some fantastic dives from all six divers. Amelie Underwood claimed gold medals on both the 1m and 3m boards. Joining her on the podium on the 3m board was Katie Martin, who won the bronze medal. The following day saw Scarlett Colbourne also take home a bronze medal on the 1m. Rose McCabe, Maia Pearson, and Ellie Pearce also competed valiantly, but with a strong field and limited medals, they were unable to stand beside their teammates on the podium.
The final event of the competition was the synchro event, where Plymouth entered three pairs. Recent National Age Group champions Lexi and Rose improved their personal bests in 8th place while Katie and Maia having won the Junior Elites Championships earlier in the year, continued their gold streak, claiming another first place. The new pairing of Amelie and Scarlett secured the silver medal.
The Roma Junior Diving Cup saw participation from countries including the USA, Italy, Monaco, Germany, and Hungary. This international exposure was invaluable, as divers exchanged T-shirts, won medals, and forged friendships with peers from around the world.
The team returned home with a renewed sense of motivation and camaraderie, eager to apply their experiences from Rome to the upcoming season. The competition not only tested their skills but also reinforced the importance of teamwork and community support.
Plymouth Diving Club extends heartfelt gratitude to Fito, supporters, local businesses, family, and friends who contributed to making this experience possible. Their unwavering support has been instrumental in the team’s accomplishments and growth.

Junior High Diving Camp
2024-08-17 08:00 - 2024-08-18 17:00 | Plymouth Life Centre, Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom
Our very own Fito Gutierrez, who is a former Red Bull cliff diver is teaming up with Nigel Mills, a high diving coach, to deliver a tge first uk junior high diving camp.
It is aimed at 14-19 year olds. Running over 2 days, the Saturday at Plymouth Life Centre and Sunday down at Adrenaline Quarry where there are high diving boards purposely built for high diving practice used by our very own Aidan Heslop.
Saturday: 2 dryland sessions, 2 pool sessions working on feet first entry, birani and spotting.
Sunday: 12.5 meters (14-19yr olds) & 16 meters (16yrs+) platforms available. Working on birani, blind and unnatural entry. 2 water sessions all with a full water safety team.
Limited spaces available, price on application. Please apply with a short video to Fitodiver1@hotmail.com

Southampton Invitational
2024-10-26 - 2024-10-28 | The Quays swimming and diving complex, Southampton
Plymouth Diving supported by Pilkington Estates, took a strong team of 15 divers to compete in the Southampton Invitational Diving Competition, which sees both Age Group and Junior Elite divers competing together. The event provided the opportunity for the divers to test new dives, move between age categories in preparation for 2025 and represents an early opportunity to gain a National Finals qualifying score. The competition was fierce with some fantastic performances from the Plymouth divers.

In the A category for 16 to 18 year-olds Louie McCue produced some outstanding dives to make the finals on 3m and 1m coming 4th in both events. However, in the Platform event he produced his best dives and won a well-deserved gold medal. The A girls also performed well with Erin Healey, Eva Lang, Martha Ticehurst and Rose McCabe diving excellently all weekend. Rose won a superb bronze on 3m beating several Junior Elite divers in the process. Teammate Erin also had a great weekend winning an amazing bronze on Platform and making the final in the 1m event but wasn’t able to add to her medal tally as she placed 4th. Both Eva and Martha were diving up an age category and performed excellently all event with both securing PB’s and National Finals scores. Martha was consistent throughout and competed many new dives throughout the weekend. Eva performed well across all boards but it was her superb Platform performance that was the highlight of her weekend finishing just behind Erin in 4th.

In the B category for 14 and 15 year olds Poppy Jones, Lincoln Stephens Charlie Clinick and Oscar Westbury were all competing. The divers walked away with lots of PBs and several qualifying scores. Poppy competed new dives in all events and managed to secure top 10 finishes in Platform and 1m and achieved the National Finals scores on all boards. Oscar and Lincoln pushed either on all weekend and secured superb top 10 finishes on all boards with National Finals scores on 2 boards each in a very competitive category, a brilliant achievement from both divers. Charlie was diving up an age category and performed well on 1m and 3m producing some great dives.

In the C category for 12 and 13 year old Alice Jones, Teagan Mousley, Isaac Ide and Harry Westbury were competing and all performed excellently. Harry led the way in this age category for Plymouth with silver medals in the 1 and 3 metre events and a well-deserved 4th in Platform as well as National Finals scores in all 3 events, a superb performance. Alice and Teagan dived consistently in all events and gained more valuable experience at this level with Alice achieving PB’s in 2 events and a National Finals score. Isaac secured top 10 finishes in all events with some great dives.

The youngest divers in the competition were in the D category for 10 and 11 year old divers with Emily Williams competing at this level for the first time. She secured 2 top 10 finishes coming a brilliant 5th on Platform and achieved the National Finals score on 1m at her first attempt. Theo Todd also travelled with the squad and gained valuable experience.

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 Cody Powell-Tuckett along with Mark Jones for taking on the judging responsibilities.

Talent Games
2024-11-02 - 2024-11-03 | John Charles Centre for Sport, Leeds
A small team of four divers have been selected to attend this years talent games. Coached by Sally Freeman, Ivy-May Davey, Stephanie Clarke, Seth Greentree and Libby Edelson are representing Plymouth Diving in Leeds this weekend.
Potential stars of the future’ in action as Diving Talent Games return November 1, 2024
Around 50 divers are heading to Leeds’ John Charles Centre for Sport for this weekend’s Swim England Diving Talent Games.
The competition invites young divers from clubs across the country to showcase their skills to potentially claim a place on Swim England Diving’s Youth Development Squad (formerly Team Z).
Divers aged 11 and under will be competing in a number of both dryland and pool-based events throughout the two days – Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 November.
Those who impress will be selected for the Youth Development Squad, which is the first step on the Swim England Diving Talent pathway.
Eleven different clubs are taking part with divers from Dive London, Southampton, Southend, Leeds, Cambridge, Star, Sandwell, Sheffield, Plymouth, Edinburgh and Aberdeen all looking to impress in West Yorkshire.

London Legacy
2024-11-15 - 2024-11-17 | Dive London, London
PLYMOUTH Diving left an indelible mark at the London Legacy Open. The prestigious event, held at the iconic London Aquatics Centre, served as a stage for divers both nationally and internationally.
Plymouth Diving Elite athletes demonstrated their skills in various categories, with a team of 11 athletes. Up first was one of Plymouth Diving’s youngest Elite divers in the girls C category 1meter event, Isla Applin, first time at the London legacy event qualified for the Junior Elite British Championships with a new PB and securing a 6th place out of 12. Isla also completed on the 3meter board where she showcased some impressive new dives, Isla secured the Bronze medal along with a new PB.
In the Synchro event we had Katie Martin and Maia Pearson along with Amelie Underwood and her partner Caitlyn Coaster from Dive London, both pairs competing against some of the best divers in the country, Katie and Maia took the silver medal with a huge score of 199.26 while our Plymouth and Dive London pair came 5th.
Lexi Davies who represented our girls B category competed both on the platform and 3-meter board, Lexi demonstrated her hard work from the months of training leading up to the event, she made her first Elite final on the platform coming 8th overall and 9th on the 3m board.
Our youngest boy representing Plymouth Diving at the event was Will Heath, he represented the B Boys and dived brilliantly throughout his Platform and 3-meter event. Will came 12th in platform prelims and 13th in 3meter board.
Moving onto our A girls where we had abundance of talent from the awesome foursome. Katie Martin Scholarship student at Marjons University Plymouth, Maia Pearson of Exeter university, Amelie Underwood and Scarlett Coulbourne. First up for the girls was there 3-meter event where all 4 girls dived amazingly, Maia 12th in the prelims, Katie 8th in the final, Scarlett 6th and Amelie scooping the silver position. The girls next event was 1 meter where Katie took the 5th place spot and Scarlett 12th overall out of 26 divers.
A boys Archie Waines, Ollie Heath and Noah Underwood who dived up to the A boys for the first time. Noah took to the Platform first where he showcased some impressive dives, securing him a 4th place in the final along with a new PB. Archie and Ollie made their mark on the 3meter board, both securing a place in the final where Archie came 7th and Ollie 5th overall. Over on the 1-meter board where our boys competed in the straight final, both divers dived incredibly well, they dominated this event and both scooped a podium position, Archie taking the silver medal and Ollie the top spot, Gold.
Our last event of the weekend was our oldest competitor Euan McCabe. Euan who competed in the Men’s Platform event, showed off his impressive diving skills and received a huge score of 82.25 for one dive. Euan who is topped to be Plymouth’s next GB star, delivered an incredible diving platform event.
A big thank you to our Plymouth Diving coaches Sally Freeman, Fito Gutierrez who have dedicated months of training to our young athletes.
Sally Freeman said, this was the first chance of the year to try out new skills and age groups for 2025, so an interesting set of results.
Some really pleasing new dives and some things to go back and work on.
Well done team!

Pete Waterfield
2024-11-16 | The Quays swimming and diving complex, Southampton
Plymouth Diving youngsters have begun their competitive season with a very successful season opener at the Pete Waterfield Skills event held at Southampton. Taking an extremely large team of 28 divers, led by coaches Tommy Davis, Lucy Gutierrez-Freeman and Jamie Conn to the one-day event.
The opening category to take the diving boards was the E open and girls category, these are the youngest members of the club and Plymouth Diving had 11 divers in this category ranging from debutants to more experienced competition divers at this level. The 12-dive circuit provided an excellent watch for the large crowd, with all the divers displaying great diving capabilities.
Plymouth Diving weren’t made to wait long to be celebrating one of their divers medalling at the competition, with Lacey-Mae Hockings finishing in 1st place breaking into the 300-point mark with a score of 308.00 with runner up further 20 points behind her. Finishing just outside the podium places was Ivy-May Davey continuing her excellent start to the season with a 4th place finish. Making their way into top 10 places were Bethany Hockaday (8th) Aria Cole (9th) and Saphia Howell (10th). The good results kept coming with Millie McClaren-Smith finishing in 11th place and Olivia Birkett 12th place and a massive personal best for Eva Colman placing 14th. Finishing inside the top 20 respectively was Katie-Rose Wilkinson in 15h position, with debutant and youngest member of the squad Nancy Moore further place back in 16th position, but certainly a debut to remember for her,
The open section is always smaller than the girls but this doesn’t mean the standards are any lower. The open section was a close fought contest throughout with the lead changing on several occasions throughout. Debutant Leo Ozkan found himself very close to finishing on the podium with a 5th place finish.
Another big group of Plymouth Diving divers were in the D girls category and as with the pervious group there was a blend of experience and first timers in a competition setting. D girls provided a fascinating watch with lead changing hand multiple times with divers producing big scores for individually dives. When the results came in it was a near perfect scenario for Plymouth Diving in the 5 out of the 6 medal places being taken by the club. Youngest in D girls, diver Honor-Grace Kelly finished in 6th, with team mate Imogen-Rose Hocking producing a consistence 12 dives to finish in 5th place. Just missing out on a podium place by a few points was Stephanie Clarke finishing in 4th. Bronze medal went to another Plymouth diver in the form of Phoebe-Mae Evans with her highlight being an incredible reverse dive on 1m and silver medal, just missing out on a gold medal by 3 points was Myia Lilley who increased her personal best score in the process in finishing runner up. Rounding off the Plymouth Diving interest in the girls category was Aneya Burton with a very creditable 22nd place, Lyra Johnson placing in 19th position and debutant Florence Smith with an impressive top 15 and finishing her first competition in 14th.
D open featured three divers from Plymouth and each one of them dived very well in the 12 dive circuit. Elliot McCamphill- Rose entering his first competition having recently joined in the competitive squad in September, managed to break through the 200-point mark and top 10 finish finding himself in 9th place. There were 2 more medals going to Plymouth divers in this category, Bobby Cole dived another consistent competition coming up just short of a podium place and medalling in 5th place. Biggest cheer of the day went to Theo Wills who missed out on a place in the finals last season but has worked extremely hard over the summer on his diving and the result ended up with Theo in bronze medal position.
Finally, it was the turn for C group and these divers were the eldest divers of the large squad Plymouth Diving took. In the category was plenty of experience and another two competition debuts in Catherine (Katy) and Elizabeth (Eliza) Butchers who both performed admirable in their first competition finishing 21st and 17th respectively. Lottie Tucker gave another solid diving performance and top 20 placing 19th. Plymouth had two more divers within the girls top 10 with Isla Newton in 10th place and personal best score for Grace Norsworthy finishing 9th.
One sole Plymouth diver was in open section, that privilege was for Daniel Robinson. Once again Plymouth Diving was celebrating another medal to add to the haul with a 3rd place bronze for Daniel.
With many divers improving their personal best scores and positions its testament to their incredible work ethic and to the coaches who work incredible hard with them on daily basis, making sure the divers are at peak condition going into competitions.
Plymouth Diving couldn’t do all this without the fantastic facilities at Plymouth Active Leisure and the continued sponsorship of the club from Pilkington Estates.
Next up for Plymouth Diving is hosting the Armada Cup from February 15th– 18th 2025.

ESSA
2024-12-07 - 2024-12-08 | Sandwell Aquatics, Brimingham
Last Sunday the 75th anniversary of the English Schools Swimming Association saw a South West team of 21 divers compete at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre. The team aged between 9 and 17 represented 15 different schools in the region.
With only 3 points separating the primary school girls; Phoebe-Mae Evans from Oreston Community Academy finished in 8th position, Lyra Johnson from Yealmpstone Farm was 9th and Ivy-May Davey from Chaddlewood Primary finished 11th. Bobby Cole from Hyde Park Junior was 9th and Theo Wills from Eggbuckland Primary was 12th, with both boys gaining valuable experience in their first competitive year.
The junior boys did incredibly well with all of them finishing in the top half of their group. Harry Westbury from Hele’s School bagged a confident silver podium position. Charlie Clinick from Eggbuckland Community College was 6th closely followed by Seth Greentree from Devonport High in 8th position. The junior girls had their work cut out in the biggest group of 22 competitors. Teagan Mousley from Plymstock School improved on her personal best 1m score to finish 5th. Plymouth College pupil Isla Applin was in the lead after 3 dives but had to settle for 6th and Alice Jones from Plymouth High was 16th. Harry and Isla were both on form in the mixed 1m synchro to win the silver medal in a large group of pairings. Teammates Bobby and Ivy-May finished 12th.
The only girl in the intermediate group was Poppy Jones, another pupil from Plymouth High. Improving on her previous 3m score by 55.3 points to finish 6th out of 15 was remarkable. Will Heath in this group and also from Plymouth College just missed out on a medal in 5th. Oscar Westbury used this competition to execute some new dives ahead of the national competition next year and finished a commendable 8th position for Devonport High. Louie McCue from Eggbuckland Community College had a restart to one of his dives which cost him dearly. Despite this he still finished a very respectable 10th out of 19.
In the senior group Archie Waines who attends Lipson Community College produced a consistent round of dives. Ollie Heath was not so consistent but both boys executed a superb 5152B dive to propel Archie into the silver medal position and Ollie a pupil from Plymouth College into 5th. Noah Underwood the youngest of the senior boys from Stoke Damerel Community College put in a valiant effort to finish 7th. Lexi Davies from Marine Academy Plymouth dived honourably to finish 6th out of a pack of 19. Finishing in 12th and delivering the highest scoring 203B in her section was Rose McCabe from Plymouth High. Scarlett Colbourne had a glorious competition to win the silver senior medal for City College Plymouth. Not to let the opportunity of a further medal go by, Scarlett went on to win a bronze with Will in the mixed 3m synchro. Lexi and Noah claimed the 7th spot.

All divers contributed towards the South West placing third out of the eight regions – a triumph for this talented squad of divers, the South West and Plymouth Diving. An achievement made possible by the schools that supported the divers and Pilkinton Estates, along with the hard work of coaches and volunteers. Coaches and judges on the day were Fito Gutierrez, Tommy Davis and Joel Trenchard supported by Team Managers Kirsty Greentree and Anna McCabe.

Armada Cup
2025-02-15 - 2025-02-18 | Plymouth Life Centre, Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom
A thirty-two strong team of Plymouth divers spent four days of their half term competing in the Pilkington Estates Armada Cup held at the Plymouth Life Centre. In its 25th year it was a chance for the nineteen contending teams to showcase the talent each club has on offer. Jon Pilkington and Wollens solicitors made it possible for Plymouth Diving to host an event of this size. Their generous sponsorship is invaluable for which we are truly grateful for. The event attracted teams from throughout the UK and as far flung as Dubai. 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.
With six group D divers representing the club this year, the young talent was evident – a great sign for the future of the club. Bobby Cole and Theo Wills took to all three boards. Bobby was centre of the mix on 3m, making it to the final to finish with a gold SW medal. The same was true of Theo Wills on platform who also won a gold SW medal. A fifty percent increase in entries from last year meant the D girls found themselves amongst a large pack. With all of the SW medals shared amongst them Myia Lilley won three, Lyra Johnson with one, Ivy-May Davey and Phoebe-Mae Evans both winning two.
Moving from skills into his first age group competition Daniel Robinson won the SW gold medal for 1m and platform in group C. The girls in the same group all performed well to win AG medals. A silver on 3m for Libby Edelson who also qualified on two boards for nationals. Teagan Mousley won a 1m bronze and followed it up with another bronze with teammate Alice Jones in the 1m synchro event.
In their first elite C section, Harry Westbury and Seth Greentree nestled into the more difficult category with ease. Harry bagged the gold on 1m plus a 1m silver synchro with Seth, who also got the bronze for 3m. Isla Applin with more competitors to contend with in the elite C girls delivered two sterling rounds of dives to finish 6th on 1m and just missed out on a medal in 4th on 3m.
Poppy Jones in age group B was flying the flag solo for Plymouth Diving. Not at all daunted by the prospect Poppy finished 5th on 1m, 4th on platform with an outstanding gold on 3m beating twenty-seven other girls to stand at the top of the podium. With less experience than the other age group B boys Charlie Clinick put in a valiant effort across all three boards, showing resilience and maturity to carry on after an incorrect dive on 5m. Oscar Westbury, Lincoln Stephens and Will Heath soaked up all of the SW medals. Oscar and Lincoln never dropped below 8th position on any board. Lincoln was beaten into 4th position on 1m by Will who took the AG bronze, with a matching bronze for platform. The 3m AG gold for Will was undoubtedly the highpoint with over 20 points clear of his nearest rival.
Age group A boy Louie McCue had a very fruitful competition across all boards. A 7th position on 1m, solid silver on 3m and the best prize of all a gold on platform. It was a mixed bag for the age group A girls. Taluya Verwoolde trained hard in the runup to the competition but was unable to final which does not reflect her true capability. Evie Royal and Rose McCabe qualified for the 1m final. Rose dropped a position from the preliminary round to just miss out on a medal in 4th. Evie on the other hand was jubilant with her gold win. Erin Healey and Eva Lang left only one spot vacant on the platform podium. Eva was determined to medal and stepped up her performance from 5th in the preliminary round to win the silver in the final alongside Erin who won the bronze. Erin went on to make the 3m final finishing in 6th position, which given the number of entries was an excellent result.
The group A elite divers are always inspirational to watch. Noah Underwood looked at home on platform trialling new dives ahead of the remaining season. With a place in the final, he finished 6th. Ollie Heath made both springboard finals to finish 4th on 1m with a bronze on 3m. Archie Waines buddied up for the 3m synchro with Ollie and they were unbeatable demonstrating how to win gold.
Forced to rest for two months due to injury Amelie Underwood has only just returned to diving to compete at the Armada Cup. Winning a silver medal on 1m and 3m the lack of training did not impact on a great performance. With a lower required score carried over to the springboard finals Scarlett Colbourne clawed back some points to finish 5th on 1m and remained at 5th on 3m. Lexi Davies delivered a strong set of dives on every board and with a vast improvement on last year she has qualified for national elites in April.
Senior girls Katie Martin and Maia Pearson have had to prioritise the demands of university over diving. None the less each walked away with one gold and one silver medal in the springboard events. The seasoned pairing came 4th in synchro.
The Team Trophy went to Plymouth Diving as a result of every one of our divers contributing to the overall score – truly a fantastic team.
Plymouth Diving would like to thank the Co-Op and Fruity Roots who contributed towards the refreshments for the volunteers and officials. Plymouth Active Leisure 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, judges and volunteers.

Regional Skills
2025-03-22 | Plymouth Life Centre, Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom
Competitive Diving returned to the Plymouth Life Centre last weekend after a 4 week break with Southwest Skills regional event. The event was the first chance for 24 Plymouth Diving divers to qualify for their National Finals at Southend in July.
Being the major powerhouse of diving within the Southwest region, it was no surprise that Plymouth Diving dominated the competition not just in numbers but also in the medals.
Kicking off the 12-dive circuit competition was the girls and boys of both E and C categories. The diving was an excellent watch throughout not just for the large vocal crowd in the stands but for the judges with many high scores being award in both categories.
In the E girls event the 3 representatives from Plymouth Diving all done a brilliant job with all of them gaining qualification score for them to make it to Southend with Aria Cole breaking the 300 barrier to take gold. Eva Colman cousin of the winner came int second with a personal best score of 272.55 and Nancy Moore claiming a bronze medal with another personal best of 262.55. E boys there was only 2 divers in the competition but both boys dived incredibly well to both advance into Finals weekend with Parker Harrison on debut winning gold by just 4 points from teammate Leo Ozkan who was very close behind in silver place.
C girls was a very tight affair with 3 Plymouth Diving divers finding themselves on the podium, all of them scoring above 300 points. Stepping up from D category last season and taking gold was Aneya Burton scoring 310 points tightly followed by last year’s C category gold medallist Rae Mossford and another diver to step up into a new age group Imogen-Rose Hockings claiming bronze medal. There were personal best scores for 4th Grace Norsworthy who has qualified for National Finals for the 1st time, Debutant Olivia-Rose Laverty in 6th place with a score of 268.80 and Florence Smith finishing in a creditable 8th position with a score of 251.80. Rounding off the Plymouth divers was Lottie Tucker narrowly missing out on a PB and Finals but another top 10 finish in 7th place.
As the afternoon moved on it was time for D girls and boys. A highly anticipated category within the girl’s section as it’s a category where the lead can change hands many times. Gold medal was present to worthy winner Stephanie Clarke who won by 20 points with a score of 309.80. Silver Medal was Honor-Grace Kelly with a personal best score and result of 289.90 and it was another 1st time medallist Millie Mclaren-Smith who rounded of the podium places with bronze on 287.75. Narrowly missing out on a podium position was Lacey-May Hockings who finished in 4th place with a score of 285.00 and personal best score of 283.75 from Bethany Hockaday placed her in 5th position. Plymouth Diving had 7 divers qualify from this category with debutant Charleigh Shape 6th place and Olivia Birkett in 7th both surpassing the qualification score with 269.80 and 255.80 respectively. Agonisingly missing out on getting the qualification score this time around was Katie-Rose Wilkinson scoring 235.05 to finish in 8th position.
Another quiet section was D boys where only 2 boys were entered. With Elliott McCamphill-Rose securing the gold medal in only his second competition representing Plymouth Diving and a real improvement on his personal best. Teddy Dalley was the other representative for Plymouth in this category taking a silver medal but found himself a little shy of qualification score for National finals but that didn’t stop him having the biggest smile on the day.
The finale of the day was with girls and boys B , which Plymouth had a single representative for each in the way of Isla Newton and Dixon Houghton. Isla was the first to get her category underway and dived superbly demonstrating great composure to claim a silver medal with a score of 275.95. Finally, it was Dixon’s turn to take to the boards and he did with great efficiency and desire to medal in gold position with a terrific score of 294.55
Plymouth Diving would like to say thank you to our terrific sponsors Pilkington Estates and Wollens solicitors for the continue support and to Plymouth Life Centre for the brilliant facilities which is allowing divers to flourish in training and during competitions.
Next up to for Plymouth Diving is Junior Elite Championships taking place to Plymouth Life Centre on April 11th-13th.

British Junior Elites Championships 2025
2025-04-10 08:00 - 2025-04-13 17:00 | Plymouth Life Centre, Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom
This weekend, an eight-strong team of Plymouth Divers took part in the British Junior Elite Championships, which doubles up not only as the highest level of national competition for this cadre of divers, but also as the selection trial for the Junior European Championships this June in Greece.
Plymouth’s youngest female athlete at the competition, Isla Applin, qualified comfortably for the Group C girls 1m final, winning a prize for the highest scoring required dives. In the final, Isla finished 4th with an impressive score of 268.1, less than 4 points away from the bronze medal position. On 3m however, coming third in both her preliminary and final resulted in an individual bronze medal.
Harry Westbury was competing in his first ever British Junior Elites, but made an instant impact in the Boys Group C competition. His weekend began with a bronze medal on 3m, with just 2.15 points separating the British medallists. On 1m, Harry not only qualified in 1st position but put together a masterclass of a final performance, with 7s on every dive, earning him his first Junior Elite gold with a huge score of 300.55!
In the Group A Boys 1m, both Plymouth participants – Ollie Heath and Archie Waines – qualified comfortably in 2nd and 5th place for the final in a crowded prelim of 21 divers. Ollie came tantalisingly close to a bronze medal, finishing just one-tenth of a point behind Southend’s Todd Geggus, despite an accomplished performance in the final.
The same pair also competed in the 3m Group A Boys competition, joined by Noah Underwood. Ollie qualified in 7th, but climbed up to 6th in the final standings thanks to two 60+ point dives.
On the platform, Noah qualified in 8th for the final but saved his best for the last round of the final, a back 2 ½ somersaults with 1 ½ twists from 10 metres which wowed the judges for 8s and 8.5s, scoring a whopping 78.4 points and moving up into 6th place. It was also a personal best score on this dive list for Noah, who was competing in Group A for the first time this year.
Scarlett Colbourne, Lexi Davies and Amelie Underwood were Plymouth’s most senior female divers at this event and in the Group A Girls 1m, consisting of 27 divers (including 5 international guests), Lexi, competing in her first Junior Elites, finished in 18th while Scarlett narrowly missed out on the final in 10th place. Amelie qualified as the top British diver and followed this up with a solidly consistent final performance to win 1m gold.
The same divers also competed in the 3m event. After a gruelling 2hr 30 preliminary, it was Lexi who just missed out on qualification in 11th place but improved significantly on her 1m score and beating her PB by 46 points. Amelie and Scarlett qualified in 1st and 3rd place, setting up a thrilling 3m finale which became a battle for 1st place between Amelie and Scarlett. Amelie showed her experience to take home her 2nd gold medal of the weekend, while Scarlett took a well-deserved silver medal, after producing one of her best ever performances.
The weekend also saw some Plymouth pairings take to the boards in the 3m synchro competitions. Amelie Underwood teamed up with London’s Caitlin Coster and won 16-18 Girls silver in a tight event where fewer than 5 points separated the podium places. Scarlett Colbourne and Lexi Davies were not far behind the medal action in 4th with a consistent performance and another PB score. In the Boys 16-18 3m synchro, Archie Waines and Ollie Heath teamed up and emerged victorious in a close battle for the silver medal thanks to a cracking 60-point final dive.
Rounding off the synchro medals was Isla Applin who joined up with Southampton’s Ella Swete to finish third, earning Isla a second bronze medal of the weekend.
Congratulations to the Plymouth Junior Elite squad for all of their efforts and achievements over the weekend, and a massive thank you to Junior Elite coaches Sally Freeman and Fito Gutierrez for nurturing and developing these talented divers, as well as to the judges, officials and volunteers who made the event run smoothly.

Sandwell Showdown 2025
2025-04-18 - 2025-04-20 | Sandwell Aquatics, Brimingham
A twenty-two strong team of Plymouth divers sponsored by Pilkington Estates and Wollens Solicitors, spent three days of the Easter weekend competing in the Sandwell Showdown Regional Diving Competition held at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre. In its first year it was a chance for the twelve contending teams to showcase the talent each club has on offer. The event attracted teams from throughout the UK looking to win medals, hit personal bests and gain qualification for the National Age Group Finals in June.
Plymouth’s youngest divers were competing in the Group D events with Theo Wills and Bobby Cole diving all three boards for the boys. Both divers produced some amazing dives in only their second competition at this level. Theo achieved National scores on 3m and Platform and won a well-deserved bronze on Platform in a very close competition with teammate Bobby who achieved National scores on 1m, 3m and Platform scooping a silver medal on 1m and Platform plus a bronze on 3m.
In the girls Group D events Phoebe-Mae Evans, Lyra Johnson and Myia Lilley were all gaining valuable experience at this level and looking to test out their new dives. Phoebe-Mae and Lyra dived excellently on 1m and 3m with both divers achieving one qualification score. Myia had a successful event gaining qualification scores on 1m, 3m and Platform and winning a brilliant bronze on Platform with two superb final dives.
Libby Edelson, Emily Williams, Alice Jones and Teagan Mousley represented the girls Group C Age Group divers. Libby dived consistently in all events and gained qualifying scores on 1m and Platform winning a silver medal on Platform in an all-Plymouth podium with Alice and Teagan. Emily dived well in all events and gained valuable experience at this level. However, it was Teagan and Alice that battled each other on all 3 boards for the medals, with Teagan diving several new more challenging dives for the first time in competition. Both divers hit qualification scores on all 3 boards with Teagan wining gold on 1m and bronze on Platform. Alice had a weekend to remember winning gold on Platform, silver on 1m and bronze on 3m with some brilliant diving throughout.
The Group C Age Group boys included Seth Greentree and Daniel Robinson. Daniel was competing in his first full event at this level and dived well on all boards gaining loads of experience and picking up a lustrous bronze on 1m and Platform. Seth was pushed hard by several divers from other clubs but dived superbly on his way to gold on 1m and silver on 3m and Platform.
Poppy Jones was the only Age Group B girl from Plymouth. Producing a string of outstanding dives including the events highest scoring dive, a front two and half somersaults off 7m, saw Poppy win a glorious gold. Her performances on 1m and 3m were equally as impressive winning gold in both to make it a clean sweep at the event.
The Age Group B boys also did themselves proud. Charlie Clinick once again showing improvement on all three boards and gaining experience at this level against some excellent divers. However, it was his two teammates that traded positions on all three boards with some demanding dives. Oscar Westbury and Lincoln Stephens shared the podium on all three boards. Lincoln dived consistently well all weekend and ended the event with bonze on 1m, silver on 3m and gold on Platform with his final dive securing the gold. Oscar showed his class on all three boards with excellent dives finishing with silver on 1m and Platform with a gold on 3m after a sensational twisting dive which scored him over 50 points.
In a relatively small field of divers Louie McCue was the standout diver in the boys Age Group A events. He dived well all weekend and produced some high scoring dives on his way to winning silver on 1m and two well deserved golds on 3m and Platform.
The Age Group A girls events were the busiest category at the event with thirteen divers competing. Plymouth divers faired very well with Martha Ticehurst, Erin Healey and Evie Royal all producing solid dives to secure top 10 finishes. Eva Lang and Rose McCabe dived very well on all boards with both divers securing excellent bronze medals on 1m and 3m respectively. However, it was their teammate Maddie Elliott that produced some of the best diving of the event. With scores close to 50 points for her last two dives on Platform Maddie proved unbeatable. She was also ahead of the pack on 1m and 3m to win a full set of gold medals, equalling Poppy’s success.
With so many amazing performances with over 30 medals and well over 20 personal bests, the icing on the cake for Plymouth Diving was winning the overall team trophy for the best performing team at the event.
The divers and parents would also like to show their appreciation to the dedicated coaching staff and volunteers that made the weekend possible.
