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Seventeen youngsters from Southampton Diving Academy travelled to Leeds last weekend to compete in the 7th Northern Cross Diving Championships and came back with a haul of three medals. The most successful diver on the team was Sam Knapp (12), who took 2 silver medals in the 12/13 years age group. With a new found confidence, which has developed with his recent launch into an international career, he stood out in a very competitive age group. Despite the fact that the 1m springboard is generally his weakest event, Sam stepped up to the mark and pulled off a consistent set of high quality dives, pulling out all the stops in the final to take second place. Sam's platform event proved to be very exciting, with the final outcome only decided on the very last dive, when Jack Haslam from Sheffield pushed him into second place. Sam dived brilliantly, putting in a great set of dives that included attracting 8's on his inward 2 ½ somersaults in the tucked position. Team mate Alistair Khakoo (9), diving in the 11 years and under category, also did very well to take bronze on platform. Despite being relatively new to the sport he gave a very consistent performance, qualifying for the final in 3rd place and holding the position in the final. "I am thrilled with this result," said his coach, Charly Tomkys. "For someone with so little experience this was an outstanding result at such a high level meet." Director of Coaching, Lindsey Fraser, was also delighted with the outcome. "I am very impressed with how the team dived this weekend," she said. "Both Sam and Alistair did particularly well, but we had several divers make finals and the whole team performed well." Full results were as follows:
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| For further details call Annie Clewlow, Chair of SDA on 023 8072 0922 / 07910 300232 |
| Photo opportunities can be arranged |