Southampton Diving Academy

About Southampton Diving Academy

Southampton Diving Academy was formed in January 2000, incorporating the former City of Southampton Swimming and Southampton Diving clubs. Its home venue is the Quays Swimming and Diving Complex on Harbour Parade.

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Facilities for diving at the Quays are some of the best in the south of England. There are two each of 1m and 3m springboards and 1m, 3m, 5m, 7.5m and 10m platforms, all suitable for competition at International level. Bubble-making machines give divers extra cushioning when they execute new dives. In addition there are excellent studio facilities, including a dry board and trampoline.

Membership continues to increase, now standing at well over 200, with divers aged 5 to 60 years, diving from recreational to elite level. Some of the latest recruits had their first taste of diving through the Quays tasters scheme. At the top of the club Pete Waterfield became the first British diver to win the gold on highboard at the Commonwealth Games for 20 years in 2002. He was also the European Champion of Champions on highboard, the first British diver ever to achieve this result. In August 2004 he took a silver medal at the Olympics in the synchronised highboard event and 5th in the individual highboard competition. This year he took bronze in the synchronised highboard event at the World Diving Championships, making a new British record.

Other members of the Elite squad include Monique McCarroll who represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in 2006. The English team were represented by Pete Waterfield, Stacey Powell, Gary Hunt and Gareth Jones, with Pete bringing home a silver medal from the 10 metre platform event. Between them the Southampton divers also won two fourth places courtesy of Peter Waterfield in the 1m springboard event and Stacie Powell, who with partner Tonia Couch from Plymouth represented England in the synchronised highboard event. Gareth Jones also took 10th place in the 1m event. Gary Hunt took third place in the synchronised platform event with his partner, Callum Johnstone from Sheffield. Gary Hunt, Charly Tomkys and Tom Owens all represented Great Britain for the first time this year.

Director of Coaching, Lindsey Fraser, was herself a member of the British Olympic Team in 1980 and 1984 and the British Team Manager for the Olympic Games in 2000 and 2004. In 2002 she was the English Commonwealth Diving Coach. She is a trained secondary school teacher and continued her teaching career alongside her coaching until she moved to Southampton in 1999. She now holds the post of Diving Development Officer at the Quays. She was awarded the Helen Rollason medal as the top female UK Coach of the Year in 2004.

The team of coaches includes Steve Gladding (seconded to SDA as an Elite Coach, funded by UK Sport and British Diving). In addition many of the younger elite divers have qualified to join the team, including Charly Tomkys and Tom Owens, who have also coached with the Junior Talent Programme (a national initiative which fast tracks exceptionally talented young divers). The club also has a tutor for diving coaching, Chris Jenkins.

The Academy recruits its members primarily through the diving lessons programme, which takes place at the Quays. Children are invited to join the Academy from these lessons, choosing either a recreational or competitive route, with the option to swap their chosen path at a later date if they wish.

In 2004 Southampton was chosen as one of only 5 centres in Britain to become a Talent Identification Centre for British Diving, involving selection of youngsters through visits to local schools. The children identified as having outstanding potential during testing are then offered fast-track training in the sport.

There is also an adult diving programme, with members who have achieved great success both on the national and international Masters scene, including two European champions.

The club aims to ensure that all their members have the opportunity to fully enjoy the sport of diving whilst reaching their individual potential.