Plymouth Diving

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

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

Junior Elites
2021-10-27 - 2021-10-30 | Plymouth Life Centre
The British Elite Junior Diving Championships hosted by the Plymouth Life Centre, concluded on Saturday with a hoard of medals for Plymouth Diving. Showcasing the best talent on offer in the UK, this is a tough competition for the select few. For most it also represented the first competition in 19 months.
Amelie Underwood in group C 12/13 years won the silver medal on the 1m board with Scarlett Colbourne comfortably getting the bronze. The 3m board saw Amelie win a second silver and only 0.45 points off the gold. With a lower tariff in the preliminary round Scarlett improved on her fifth position to finish in fourth.
The only Plymouth diver to compete on all 3 boards was Ollie Heath who incredibly managed to medal on every board after some amazing dives. He won silver on platform, bronze on 3m followed by a further bronze on 1m. Team mate Theo Stevens also had a great competition and only just missing a podium spot on both the 3m and 1m by a frustrating 0.45 points.
Summer Radcliffe and Katie Martin represented group B 14-16 girls. Katie misjudged her footing on the 1m board and showed true grit and determination to carry on after a horrible fall. In a field of 17 divers Summer qualified easily in third position. With all finalists fighting for medals and despite diving well, Summer finished in sixth. On the 3m board Katie fared better in tenth position with a personal best score. Summer was on track to qualify for the final until her last dive where an error on takeoff caused a drop in scores and so she missed the final this time.
Euan McCabe in group B and partner Robbie Lee from Southampton teamed up to win the silver medal in the platform synchro. The individual platform gold was never in doubt for Euan. For the second consecutive time at these championships the title was his with a personal best score of 445 points.
Aidan Heslop also won gold on platform in group A 17-19 years, with a stupendous score of 560.2 points. He outclassed his competitors with three dives each scoring over 80 points. Aidan and Ruby Thorne from Dive London dived as a mixed synchro pair for the first time as part of a plan for Team Wales. The pair hope to qualify for the Commonwealth Games in this new event.
Euan has already secured a place at next months FINA World Junior Diving Championships as a result of silver and bronze medals at the Junior European Championships in June. Aidan also achieved the qualifying score and awaits confirmation of selection to the prestigious event in Ukraine.
All of the Elite Divers are coached by Sally Freeman. Without her ability to spot talent and nurturing skills then the divers would not reach their full potential and produce results to be proud of.

Southampton Invitational
2021-10-23 - 2021-10-25
Plymouth Diving returned to full time training at the beginning of September following a difficult period where the diving pool at the Life Centre was shut for over 17 months. With less than 7 weeks full time training behind them a 13 strong team of divers were back in action last weekend at the Southampton Invitational.
Group D boys were represented by Oscar Westbury and Will Heath. Oscar had a challenging preliminary round on the 1m board but was unperturbed, going on to comfortably win the bronze medal. Will proudly joined Oscar on the podium with his silver medal. Not content with one medal Will also won a bronze on the 3m board.
Ollie Heath in group C had a rewarding weekend. After winning the preliminary round on platform he was not willing to give the top spot up and secured the gold in style. In a closely fought 3m event Ollie won the silver medal.
Scarlett Colbourne in group C dived consistently and with confidence on the 1m and 3m board. She narrowly missed out on the 3m final in 7th position. Scarlett finished 4th out of 29 to make the 1m final.
Katie Martin was the highest scoring group B Plymouth girl on 3m. Team mates Maia Pearson and Ellie Pearce battled through a group of 29 divers with determination to make the 1m final which paid dividends, Maia won the bronze medal and Ellie the silver.
Lucy Gutierrez-Freeman was the only diver in group A from the club. She finished 4th on 1m and won the silver medal in a thrilling platform final.
Other team members included Alex Whittaker, Eva Lang, Lexi Davies and Phoebe White. They all set themselves new personal best targets after moving up a group from their last competition. Ben Hall and Alex both executed new dives with twist for the first time.
Tommy Davis coached all of the divers after stepping in at the last minute when another coach had to withdraw. At only 19 this was a massive undertaking for Tommy which he did with great enthusiasm. He played a vital role which contributed to the team’s achievements.

Red Bull Cliff Diving
2021-09-12 | Downpatrick Head, Ballycastle
In September Plymouth diver Aidan Heslop competed in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series as a Wildcard. With a finish position of 7th in Ireland he then travelled to Italy to finish 4th in Puglia and only 0.3 points off a podium finish. His final stop at Polignano a Mare placed him in 5th. The youngest male diver on the circuit, Aidan has already accomplished huge success and is destined for further victories.

European Junion Diving Championship
2021-06-22 - 2021-06-27 | Rijeka, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska)
Junior European Diving Championships and FINA Diving World Cup 2021
The lack of pool taining available in Plymouth did not faze Euan McCabe when he competed last week in the Junior European Diving Championships held in Croatia.
His coach; Sally Freeman was unable to join him on the trip but this did not prevent him from winning the bronze medal in the Group B, 10m event.
McCabe teamed up with Ben Cutmore from Dive London for the 10m synchro. This was the first outing for the pair and resulted in an impressive performance to win the silver medal.
Plymouth Diving continues to face challenges, with the Life Centre diving pool still out of action until the end of August this year. Currently the best the club can offer divers is a wet session in Poole once a week. 9

National Skills
2020-07-18 - 2020-07-19 | Corby East Midlands International Pool, Corby
18th -19th July 2020, Corby Steel diving club AND TIMINGS TBC

Rome
2020-07-14 - 2020-07-20
This is a chance for selected divers to compete internationally. Divers will be required to reach a qualifying score in up and coming competitions. Divers and coaches will travel to Italy on the 14th of July and return on the 20th. The competitions will be on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Drake Trophy
2020-07-01 | Life Centre, Plymouth
DATES AND TIMES TBC

National Age Groups
2020-06-04 - 2020-06-07 | Ponds Forge, Sheffield

Scottish National Age Groups
2020-05-01 - 2020-05-03 | Edinburgh
TIMINGS TBC

SW Regional Skills
2020-05-01 | Life Centre, Plymouth
DATES AND TIMINGS TBC

Junior Elite
2020-04-06 - 2020-04-09
Venue and timings TBC

London Regional Skills
2020-04-01 | London

G Star
2020-03-19 - 2020-03-22 | Leeds

Pig Racing Night
2020-03-07 19:00 - 23:00 UTC | TBC

Armada Cup
2020-02-15 - 2020-02-18 | Life Centre, Plymouth

British Championships
2020-01-17 - 2020-01-19
British Diving Championships 2020 Review
Plymouth Life Centre hosted the British Diving Championships over the weekend. This is a prestigious senior competition showcasing the best British talent with guest divers from around the world also competing. Eight Plymouth divers were selected to participate, which included four juniors.
Unfortunately for Emily Martin she was injured whilst training immediately prior to her first event and had to withdraw from the competition.
In the 1m event Summer Radcliffe drastically improved on her score from the previous year to finish in thirteenth position. In a huge group of 29 divers Summer finished in eleventh position on 3m after a consistent round of dives.
On platform Cody Powell-Tuckett finished in twelfth position in a tough and highly competitive group.
Curtis Yeun the 1m and 3m National Age Group Champion for 2019 struggled to find his form on 3m but had a successful set of dives on 1m to finish in eleventh position, ahead of some more experienced British divers. Euan McCabe also competed on 3m. After a shaky start in the preliminary round he pulled it back in style to finish in seventh position putting him into the final. Up against 7 other senior divers he was unable to improve on his position but won the junior bronze medal in recognition for being the third highest ranking junior diver.
The platform event for the men saw four Plymouth divers in action. Euan had to deliver most dives off 5m due to an injury that he is recovering from. None the less he still managed to finish in ninth position with a strong set of dives. Josh Freeman did not start well but improved during the competition conquering his armstand and finishing with an impressive reverse 2 ½ off 10 metres. Finishing in eleventh position was Connor West in his final diving competition. During his 10 year competitive diving career Connor has achieved great success with the help of his coach Fito Gutierrez. In 2016 and 2017 he was the gold medallist at National Age Groups on both the 3m and platform. Connor is now passing on his wealth of experience to others at the Life Centre where he now coaches. Finishing the preliminary round in second position Matthew Dixon was not to be outdone in the final. Supported by his coach Alex Rochas, family and local spectators, Matthew gave them something to cheer about. After the second dive Matthew led all the way and smashed the magical 500 point barrier to win gold – an incredible achievement that few divers attain. With places still up for grabs for the Tokyo Olympics, Plymouth Diving has high hopes for Matthew and Emily. Matthew will have the opportunity to qualify when he attends the World Cup in April.
Coaches also on hand for the weekend to offer advice were Sally Freeman and Claire Burton.

Flip and Fun
2019-12-21 | Life Centre, PLYMOUTH, Devon, PL5 3RZ
TIMINGS TBS
Invites will be sent out by coaches

Christmas Disco
2019-12-14 19:00 - 23:00 | Nuffield Leisure Centre, Derriford, Plymouth
Christmas disco for all diver

ESSA schools diving
2019-12-08 08:00 - 17:00 | London Aquatic centre, London
ESSA 2019 Review
The 70th anniversary of the English Schools Swimming Association saw a South West team of divers compete at the prestigious London Aquatics Centre last Sunday.
In a close fought contest Yvie Tucker from St. Matthew’s Primary Academy won the silver medal in the primary girls section. The primary boys all finished in the top 8; Evan Walker 5th, Alex Whittaker 7th and Oscar Westbury 8th.
Scarlett Colbourne was just out of reach of the bronze medal in the junior section by 0.2 points. Ben Kearton also missed out on a medal placing 4th and Archie Waines 7th for the boys.
Olive Ullyatt from Southampton was the only diver not from Plymouth Diving. She was the highest scoring girl in the intermediate section finishing 6th. The two top intermediate boys were ahead of the rest of the competitors with Euan McCabe from Hele’s School claiming the silver medal.
Three senior girls from Plymouth battled it out all finishing in the top 6. Evie McCabe fought back after her first dive to finish in 4th position leaving team mate Abby Fishleigh from Plymouth High to take the bronze with a lead of just 0.3 points. Maria Marasescu finished 6th. Two senior boys battled for first place and it all came down to the last dive. Curtis Yeun who attends Plymouth College was pipped to the post and finished with the third silver medal for the team.
Other divers taking part in the competition were Lexi Davies, Rose McCabe, Ellie Pearce, Amelie Underwood, Lucy Gutierrez-Freeman, Maia Pearson, Jack Kinsman-Moore and Ben Hall.
Coaches for the competition were Ashley Hendrick and Harry Mason.

Scottish National
2019-12-05 - 2019-12-08 | Edinburgh
Scottish Nationals and Open Diving Championships 2019 Review
A select team of divers from Plymouth have just returned from competing at the Scottish Nationals and Open Diving Championships held in Edinburgh, where they were up against some talented competitors.
Ollie Heath and Theo Stevens dived up into group C boys across all 3 boards. This was their first competition at this level and they dealt with the experience in an admirable manner. Ollie’s best performance was on platform and Theo the 3m board. Both boys have just been selected for the Swim England Z camp – an 18 month programme consisting of 7 intensive training camps.
Katie Martin dived for the group C girls and Summer Radcliffe for the group B girls; they qualified for both of their springboard finals. Katie was the winner on the 1m board and proudly took top position on the podium to claim the gold medal; she just missed out on a medal on the 3m board finishing in 4th. Summer performed a confident and elegant round of dives to win the bronze medal on the 1m board and finished 5th on 3m.
Zach Anderson dived up into group B for all 3 boards with his best result on the 3m board. He qualified for the final where he finished in 6th position amongst a tough competitive group most of whom were much older.
Fourteen year old Josh Freeman dived up into group A for all 3 boards. His best performance was on platform where he just missed out on the final after a failed armstand dive which left him in 7th position following a solid set of required dives. Connor West in the same platform event successfully made the final and finished 5th.
Frances Burdett competed on the 1m and platform for group A girls. She showed true determination and courage after falling flat on her back from 10m and finished the last 2 dives to gain the respect of all present. Cody Powell-Tuckett also dived off platform for group A qualifying in 1st position with a personal best score; in the final she finished 5th. Emily Martin qualified in 1st position for the Women’s platform but unfortunately had to withdraw from the final. Cody also competed in this event and finished 4th.
Matthew Dixon upped his game after qualifying for the Men’s 1m in 4th position to win the silver medal in the final. In the Men’s platform Matthew went on to win his second silver medal. Connor, despite picking up an injury also made the Men’s platform final and finished 5th.
Summer and Josh competed in the fun team event and finished 7th with a consistent set of dives and a very in tune synchro dive.
The divers were coached throughout the competition by Alex Rochas and Sally Freeman.

Fina Grand Prix Singapore 2019
2019-11-22 - 2019-11-24
FINA Grand Prix Singapore 2019 Review
Aidan Heslop and Euan McCabe have just returned from Singapore where they represented GBR on the final leg of the 2019 FINA Grand Prix. Unfortunately, Aidan was unable to compete due to injury; he already has 2 FINA Grand Prix bronze medals to his credit from 2017 and 2018 when he competed on platform. Fourteen year old Euan was selected to debut in his first senior competition and took part in the 3m event finishing in 17th position. With expert guidance from his coach (Sally Freeman) he successfully trialled 2 new dives and had a difficult list of dives to perform.

Irish National
2019-11-21 - 2019-11-24 | Dublin, Ireland
Irish Open 2019 Review
Plymouth divers were out in force last weekend at the Irish Open held in Dublin with many coming back with medals. The four day event was a great success for the club with a mixture of skills and age group events.
Harry Westbury won the bronze medal in group E of the skills section with less than a point off silver. In group D Amelie Moor won the gold medal after setting the bar high with her first dive and finishing it off with an equally incredible dive. Lexi Davies was 5th out of 21 and delivered an impressive round of dives to achieve this result. Sophie Millmore and Tabby Morris were 16th and 17th; both gave consistent performances. In a large group of 23 divers, Ella-Poppy Cornish kept her composure to win the silver medal and Tilly Tassart finished 8th with an unwavering execution of dives.
In his first age group competition, Oscar Westbury dived well to win gold on all 3 boards for group E. Yvie Tucker in group D had a very fruitful competition to win the bronze medal on 3m and silver on 1m. Team mate Eva Lang was 4th on 1m; determined to medal she achieved silver on 3m. Maia Pearson narrowly missed out on a medal placing 4th in the group C 1m event and 7th place on the 3m. The platform proved to be the crowning glory for Maia where she flourished to win the gold. Polly Evans also diving in group C improved on her personal best scores for both the 1m and 3m board and continues to gain valuable experience improving at each competition. Jack Kinsman-Moore diving in group C was the second Plymouth diver to win gold on all 3 boards, also improving his personal best scores on all boards by a minimum of 20 points.
Calvin Krimmelbein was 9th on the 1m board in the senior group and concluded the competition by finishing in 8th place on the 3m board with a 28.8 point improvement on his previous personal best score.
Ryan Wills was the coach for all of the divers with Harry Mason acting as Team Manager.

Talent Games
2019-11-16 - 2019-11-17
This is a chance for those that have passed the qualifiers to try out and hopefully get selected to go on Z camps run by Swim England.

Peter Waterfield
2019-11-09 | The Quays swimming and diving complex, Southampton
Peter Waterfield 2019 Review
A young team of 20 Plymouth divers travelled to Southampton at the weekend to represent Plymouth Diving at the Peter Waterfield skills competition.
Harry Westbury dived up an age category into the Group E section. Not intimidated by the challenge he walked away with the bronze medal. Freya White for the girls in this section dived well and broke her PB to finish in 13th position.
Group D boys had a particularly good event with all 4 boys in the top 10. Alex Whittaker 2nd, Noah Underwood 4th, George Prior narrowly missed out on a medal in 7th and Freddy Parnell was 9th.
The girls in group D gave outstanding performances to leave no room for any other team on the podium. Lexi Davies won gold, Erin Healey the silver and Amelie Moor completed the hat trick to win bronze. They were joined by Sophie Millmore who won the 5th medal position. Rose McCabe was 9th and Pheobie Pickering 13th out of a total of 29 divers. Tabitha Morris was 10th but considering this was her first competition it was a remarkable result. Also competing for the first time was Martha Ticehurst, Sienna Williams and Hanna Srokosz who all dived with great determination and composure.
Group C was large for both the boys and girls. Oscar Hart executed a consistent set of dives to finish 15th out of 27. The girls also delivered a great set of dives. Tilly Tassart set the standard with her first dive to bag the bronze medal. Ella-Poppy Cornish just missed out on a medal in 7th and Maddy Elliott was 11th out of 29.
Coaches for the event were Ryan Wills and former Olympian Tonia Couch.

Southampton Invitational
2019-10-26 - 2019-10-28 | The Quays swimming and diving complex, Southampton
Southampton Invitational 2019 Review
A team of 25 Plymouth divers started the diving season with flair last weekend, competing at the Southampton Invitational.
The only girl to represent the club in the group D platform event was Scarlett Colbourne and she did it in style to win gold. Not content with one gold; Scarlett won another in the 1m final! Amelie Underwood gave a consistent performance in the group D 3m preliminary round to finish 6th in the final.
The boys in group D on the 1m board saw Ollie Heath shine through to win gold, closely followed by Theo Stevens who won the silver. Harry Denham also made the final to finish in 6th. Evan Walker and Will Heath were just outside the finals on the 1m and 3m board placing 7th and 8th in their first Age Group competition – both gave impressive performances.
Group C proved to be particularly challenging for both the girls and boys. Competing against 36 divers Maia Pearson narrowly missed the final, placing 7th on the 3m board. This was also true for Ben Kearton on the same board and again, just missed out on the 1m board final placing 8th.
Katie Martin dived up an age category into the Group B section and reached the 1m final to finish in 5th position, she later dived in the 3m final and triumphed to win the bronze medal. Lucy Gutierrez-Freeman in the same age group came 5th in the platform final after a solid performance.
The trio of group A girls from Plymouth were very fruitful with at least one of them making every final. Maria Marasescu finished 6th in the platform final. The 1m board proved to be more successful for Maria and she won the bronze medal with teammate Abby Fishleigh finishing 6th. In the 3m final Abby upped her game to claim the silver medal and Evie McCabe won the bronze.
Also in group A; Calvin Krimmelbein improved on his personal best score to qualify for the 3m final, finishing in 5th position.
Ben Hall and Lexi Davies experienced their first competition at this level and held their composure to dive well. Eva Lang, Lily Walker, Yvie Tucker, Harlie Stringer, Polly Evans, Pheobe White, Ellie Pearce and Archie Waines also proudly represented the club, some of whom improved on their personal best scores.
Coaches for the weekend were Fito Gutierrez, Ashley Hendrick and Ryan Wills.

Team Y assessment and camp
2019-10-21 08:00 - 2019-10-26 17:00 | Plymouth Life Centre
Divers in the National Squad (Team Y) are selected from the National Assessment Camp and are between 12 and 15 years old.
To be considered for invitation to the National Assessment Camp, a diver must have first competed at the GB Junior Elites.
The Assessment Camp will typically run in September at the start of the season.
Selection to the squad will require a pass in a number of technical and physical areas:

Performance GB Junior Elites – Invited to join the camp
Physical Testing (Gymnastic Routine + Physical Tests).
Physio Assessment
Entry Test – consistency
Bouncing skills test 3m – consistency, awareness & control
Required dive test platform OR springboard (six dives) – group fundamentals
Squad staff observations

English Schools Trails
2019-10-12
Here are the scores. Well done to all that have tried out.

Red Bull Cliff Diving
2019-09-13 - 2019-09-15 | Bilbao, Spain
Aidan Heslop – Red Bull 2019 Review
The first time Aidan Heslop experienced the thrill of cliff diving was in 2013 at the age of 11, when he was a spectator at the Red Bull event held in Wales. From this point forward there was no turning back and the ambition to take part himself set in.
By the age of 16 Aidan had made his Red Bull Cliff Diving debut in the 2018 grand finale in Polignano a Mare, Italy where he was the youngest diver to ever compete in the sport; diving off a 27 metre platform.
Earlier this month Aidan broke another record and became the youngest diver ever to stand on the podium at the Red Bull Cliff Diving grand finale in Bilbao, Spain. He secured the bronze medal – only 14.35 points behind gold medallist Gary Hunt; a fellow British diver and eighth time series winner who Aidan has taken great inspiration from. This was an amazing result and one that Aidan’s parents Tony and Helen along with brother Rhys are immensely proud of.
Will Sneyd, the director of Adrenalin Quarry has built a 16, 20 and 24 metre platform to Fina standards at his venue in Liskeard. This enables Aidan and other high divers to train locally under the guidance of Plymouth Diving coach Fito Gutierrez who was as a high diver himself for Mexico.
Alongside the cliff diving Aidan competes in springboard and platform competitions. His diving journey began at the age of 8. In 2011 he took part in his first ever diving competition for Plymouth Diving and since then he has gone from strength to strength. His biggest achievement was in 2018 when he represented Wales at The Commonwealth Games. He trains at the Plymouth Life Centre under the direction of his coach Sally Freeman, a former diving Olympian. This level of success would not be possible without Sally’s expertise and she also coaches Aidan for the cliff diving for which he recognises and is truly grateful for.
