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Five divers from the Southampton Diving Academy, based at the Quays Eddie Read Swimming and Diving Complex, are set to represent their countries at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia in March. The British National Championships held in Manchester this month doubled as the selection ground for the English Commonwealth team and members of the Academy were in blistering form. Leading the group was Peter Waterfield (24), the Olympic silver medallist and holder of the Commonwealth title on Highboard. Not only did Peter take the national title in the platform event with a 43 point lead, surpassing the qualifying score for nomination for the Commonwealth team by 81 points, he also took the silver medal in the 1m event, only 0.7 points behind Ben Swain of Sheffield. His springboard score also qualified him to be selected for a place in the 1m event at the Commonwealth Games. During the highboard competition Peter gave the spectators a taste of the sort of performance he is capable of under pressure, receiving perfect 10’s for both his back 3 ˝ somersaults and his forward 3 ˝ somersaults. He also scored over 100 points on a single dive with his back 2 ˝ somersaults with 2 ˝ twists, one of the most difficult dives possible to perform. The big disappointment of the weekend was the missed opportunity to compete in the synchronised highboard competition, the event in which he holds his Olympic medal, as partner, Leon Taylor, was out with a shoulder injury. “It was a good warm-up for the start of my preparations for the Commonwealths,” said Peter. “It was disappointing that Leon wasn’t fit, but it’s more important that he makes sure he’s up there for the Games themselves. I’m really looking forward to defending my title and hoping to bring home a bunch of medals!” Peter’s coach, Lindsey Fraser, the British Olympic Team Manager and most successful diving coach in British history, continued to work her magic with three other members of the Southampton team. Gareth Jones (21), Stacie Powell (20) and Gary Hunt (21) all made Commonwealth qualifying scores and have been selected along with Peter to join the 17-strong team in Melbourne. Diving with great style and consistency Gareth comfortably made his qualifying score on the highboard and will represent England alongside Peter Waterfield and Leon Taylor in this event. Sadly his second placing in the synchronised highboard event with new partner, Blake Aldridge from Crystal Palace, whilst earning a qualifying score was not sufficient to earn them a place at the Games, since only 2 pairs will be taken and Peter Waterfield and Leon Taylor, as Olympic medallists had been pre-selected due to Leon’s injury. In magnificent form throughout the weekend Stacie Powell gave spectators a real thrill, contributing to a very exciting women’s platform event. Finishing the preliminary round in first place with a new British record, she was unlucky to be pushed into the silver medal position in the final by Sarah Barrow of Plymouth. Nonetheless she comfortably made the qualifying standard and will join Sarah in the individual platform event in March. Stacie’s usual synchro partner on highboard, Monique McCarroll, will compete for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games, necessitating a new partnership, for Stacie with Tonia Couch (16) from Plymouth for the English team. Competing together for the first time the girls rose to the occasion, taking the national title in style almost 15 points ahead of the qualifying standard with a new British record, looking capable of an excellent result in March. The fourth Southampton diver to join the English team will be Gary Hunt, who also competed in the synchronised highboard event for the first time in Manchester with a new partner, Callum Johnstone (15) from Leeds. Looking very well matched and diving superbly, scoring perfect 10s for synchronisation on their forward 1 ˝ somersaults, they took the national title just 11 points ahead of Gareth and Blake and with a comfortable margin of almost 20 points above the qualifying standard. Lindsey Fraser was thrilled by the outcome of the weekend. “I am incredibly proud of them all,” she said. “It is a fitting reward for all the hard work they have put in over the last few months. They deserved their selection and I’m sure they are all going to contribute significantly to the success of the English team in March.” In addition to furnishing the English team with 4 members, Southampton will also be sending Monique McCarroll (24) to represent Scotland. Qualifying for her place in the Scottish team at the Senior National Championships held at the Quays in the summer, Monique will compete in the individual highboard event. Unfortunately she is unable to compete in the synchronised event due to the lack of an appropriate partner. The Scottish coach for the commonwealth games, Steve Gladding, is currently seconded to Southampton Diving Academy having been appointed as an Elite coach on the highly acclaimed Sport England national coaching programme at the beginning of October. “This is a really exciting time for us all in Southampton,” he said. “Training and coaching with such a high achieving group is an exhilarating experience and will hopefully contribute to some excellent results for both national teams in Australia.”
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