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.
