A team of 16 divers from Southampton Diving Academy took to the boards in Sheffield to take part in the Junior Elite Nationals the last week of May. They returned in triumph to the Quays Swimming and Diving Complex with an impressive 25 medals between them.
Topping Southampton's haul was 11 year old Chloe Pook who dived superbly to take gold in both the 1 metre and 3 metre events in the girls 9/11 age group. Her teammate Portia Angove took gold on the 5 metre event, where Chloe had to settle for silver. 11 year old Portia stole the show with a British record and a win by over 70 points, an incredible margin given that all these girls are really good divers.
10 year old Lewys Oakley had a lot to prove being the top ranked 9/11 boy in the Country. He showed his class on 3 metre, using his back 2 and a half somersaults in the tucked position for judges' scores of 6's and 7's. He added to this achievement by taking gold on 5 metre platform, his favourite event.
In the girls 12/13 years, Rosie Medlock proved she was a great competitor in the platform event, taking silver with a brilliant performance, beating divers who are on the National Junior Development squad. Teammate Ellie Fleming took bronze in the 1 metre event with a steady performance.
In the boys 12/13 years Alastair Khakoo collected bronze medals on both 3 metre and platform, showing that he was not over-awed by moving up an age group this year.
In the girls 14/15 years Georgie Wingrove and Rachel Holland finished in 2nd and 3rd places in the platform event, diving consistently and showing they could be steady under pressure and rise to the challenge. They have both been selected to represent Great Britain in their debut International at the Junior European Championships in Budapest, Hungary the first week in July.
In the boys platform event Ryan Strudwick took bronze, beating the reigning Junior European platform champion in the process, and missing Junior European selection by a mere 7 points. This was all the more impressive as he had been injured prior to the event which made the task more difficult.
In the boys 16/18 Chris Farrow had a superb week and collected two silver medals on 3 metre and platform. In the girls 16/18 Emily Alderman gained bronze on 1 metre, but as she is still recovering from injury she was not able to compete on her favourite board, platform.
The SDA team showed that it was not just individual performances that brought home medals. In the synchronised competitions they took silver medals in the 9/13 age group in both the girls and boys events and also silver in the 14/18 girls event.
Director of coaching, Lindsey Fraser, was delighted with these results saying "It was brilliant to see Southampton divers on the rostrum in so many events. These results bode really well for the future of elite diving in Southampton."
Lewys Oakley on the podium at the Junior National Elite Championships