Elite divers from all over Great Britain gathered at the Quays Swimming and Diving Complex for the Southampton Invitational Competition, a three day event involving 13 clubs and 125 competitors.
The local team had an outstanding weekend, taking the team trophy with 614 points against their nearest rivals, City of Leeds, who totaled 309 points.
Chris Mears
Amongst the line-up was Blake Aldridge, one of Southampton's Olympic finalists in 2008, who gave spectators a glimpse of top international diving excellence and took two of his possible three gold medals. However, Blake didn't get it all his own way as he was pipped to the post in the men's open 1m by Chris Mears (15) a fellow member of the Southampton squad. Specialising in springboard diving Chris has had an outstanding year, finishing 7th in the World Junior Championships in Aachen in September. He put this experience to use when he pitted himself against Blake, whose specialism is on highboard. With his typical positive attitude Blake was by no means daunted by the outcome. "Chris is a worthy opponent," he explained. "It is great to have these youngsters in Southampton keeping me on my toes. It shows the depth we have in diving here in Southampton. I went into this one knowing there would be some real opposition as I normally concentrate on highboard and Chris didn't let me down! We should certainly be looking out for him in 2012."
Chris picked up a medal in every event he entered, four gold and a bronze, the most successful diver of the meet.
Close behind Chris in the medal table was Georgie Wingrove (12) who took 3 golds, a silver and a bronze. The most prestigious of these was on 1m springboard where she took the rostrum in the Women's Open event ahead of international competitors much older than herself. She also took gold on platform in the B group girls' event, the age group above her current section, where she was competing to gain a qualifying standard for the National Junior Elite competitions in May 2009.
Also picking up two gold medals was Bethany Watts (12). Demonstrating mature performances on both 3m springboard and highboard, she kept her nerve to come out top of the Girls' Group C events.
Also on offer was the Gavin Brown trophy, presented in memory of the Southampton diver tragically killed in a hit and run accident in 2007 at the age of 22. The coveted award is given to the junior diver who achieves the highest raw score (ie without multiplication by the degree of difficulty) on a back or reverse rotating dive. The trophy this year went to 16 year old Max Brick, who lists it as his most treasured possession in his profile on the Amateur Swimming Association website.
Director of Coaching, Lindsey Fraser, was delighted by the results. "Our divers did us proud," she said. "Alongside the teams from other clubs, which included most of the top clubs in the UK, they looked a very classy bunch! It is a tribute to the hard work of all the divers and their coaches."
Full results:
Age Group Events
1m
Emily Alderman, Gold; Portia Angove, 9th; Danny Appleby, 9th; Steve Appleby, 6th; Lucy Baines, 21st; Jessica Barnes, 8th; Sam Bass-Cooper, 11th; Max Brick, silver; Lewis Coleman-Smith, 14th; Megan Cornish, 14th; Max Cott, 19th; Nick Egg, 17th; Moyra Ferrier, 8th; Ellie Fleming, silver; Jordan Gregson, 20th; Jaimee Gundry, 6th; Annabelle Harris, 13th; Luke Jakes, 7th; Mollie James, 22nd; Sam Knapp, 6th; Alice Langdown, 5th; Steve Lingard, 4th; Chris Mears, gold; Rosie Medlock, 6th; Jamie Munday, 8th; James Nicholson, 18th; Connor Oakley, 12th; Elizabeth Osborne, 15th; Scott Palmer, 15th; Eleanor Phillips, bronze; Amy Pritchard, 27th; Charlie Rigelsford, 11th; Ryan Strudwick, bronze; Alex Thorne, 17th; Catherine Tilling, 11th; Bethany Watts, 5th; Sarah White, gold; Daniel Whitehead, 21st; Georgie Wingrove, gold; Thomas Wrightson, 22nd
3m
Portia Angove, 8th; Danny Appleby, 11th; Lucy Baines, 21st; Jessica Barnes, 10th; Sam Bass-Cooper, 11th; Max Brick, silver; Jack Clewlow, gold; Lewis Coleman-Smith, 15th; Megan Cornish, 13th; Max Cott, 22nd; Nick Egg, 19th; Ellie Fleming, 5th; Jordan Gregson, 17th; Jaimee Gundry, 7th; Annabelle Harris, 11th; Luke Jakes, 8th; Mollie James, 22nd; Alastair Khakoo, gold; Sam Knapp, bronze; Alice Langdown, 5th; Steve Lingard, 6th; Chris Mears, gold; Rosie Medlock, 4th; Jamie Munday, 6th; James Nicholson, 21st; Connor Oakley, 10th; Lewys Oakley, silver; Elizabeth Osborne, 12th; Scott Palmer, 20th; Eleanor Phillips, 5th; Amy Pritchard, 23rd; Charlie Rigelsford, 9th; William Rigelsford, bronze; Ryan Strudwick, 4th; Alex Thorne, 9th; Catherine Tilling, 9th; Bethany Watts, gold; Sarah White, silver; Daniel Whitehead, 18th; Georgie Wingrove, silver
Platform
Emily Alderman, silver; Portia Angove, silver; Lucy Baines, 12th; Jessica Barnes, bronze; Max Brick, gold; Jack Clewlow, silver; Lewis Coleman-Smith, 11th; Megan Cornish, 13th; Max Cott, 12th; Nick Egg, 17th; Ellie Fleming, 10th; Jordan Gregson, 14th; Jaimee Gundry, 6th; Annabelle Harris, 14th; Luke Jakes, 9th; Mollie James, 7th; Sam Knapp, silver; Alice Langdown, bronze; Steve Lingard, 5th; Chris Mears, gold; Rosie Medlock, silver; Jamie Munday, 6th; James Nicholson, 19th; Lewys Oakley, gold; Elizabeth Osborne, 12th; Scott Palmer, 16th; Eleanor Phillips, 4th; Amy Pritchard, 15th; Charlie Rigelsford, 8th; William Rigelsford, silver; Ryan Strudwick, 4th; Alex Thorne, 8th; Catherine Tilling, 11th; Bethany Watts, gold; Sarah White, 9th; Daniel Whitehead, 18th; Georgie Wingrove, gold
Open Events
1m
Emily Alderman, silver; Blake Aldridge, silver; Jack Clewlow, bronze; Ellie Fleming, bronze; Chris Mears, gold; Rosie Medlock, 8th; Georgie Wingrove, gold
3m
Emily Alderman, silver; Blake Aldridge, gold; Max Brick, 4th; Ellie Fleming, gold; Gary Hunt, silver; Chris Mears, bronze; Georgie Wingrove, bronze
Platform
Blake Aldridge, gold; Max Brick, silver; Jack Clewlow, 4th; Gary Hunt, bronze; Sam Knapp, 6th; Ryan Strudwick, 5th