Divers from across the south of England came to Southampton at the weekend (Saturday 3 October) to compete in the Peter Waterfield Diving Competition. Held annually at The Quays diving complex, the event gives divers who are setting out on their competitive careers a chance both to compete against other clubs and to prove they are ready to move on to the next competitive level.
With Southampton's Mayor Councillor Elizabeth Mizon there to show her support for diving and young athletes in the region and Pete Waterfield, Southampton's own diving Olympic silver medallist keeping a close eye on up-and-coming divers, the team from the Southampton Diving Academy proved that there's plenty of Southampton talent coming through.
Of the Southampton "novice" level divers competing, 24 qualified for next year's National competition at that level – a stunning 90% success rate. With another six months to go before the qualifying deadline, these divers can now concentrate on upping their performance to get into the medals at national level and learning even more difficult dives to move up to the next stage of competition.
And the prospects look good - Southampton divers won 5 of the 8 events and took nearly half of the medals. The Boys 14 years+ saw a clean sweep of the medals for Southampton. With two-thirds of the 80 divers competing coming from other clubs, local divers firmly made their mark.
Southampton won the team competition with more than twice the points of its nearest rival, Albatross Diving Club from Reading.
Lindsey Fraser, Southampton Head Coach commented "I'm really impressed. Across the board these youngsters were determined to get the scores they needed to win medals and to get to the nationals next year. These great results show the impact of our talent programme aimed at giving opportunities to as many budding local divers as possible, maintaining a firm diving base in the region and making sure Southampton remains at the top of British diving."
Individual gold medal winners from Southampton were: Miranda Dibden (Girls 8/9 years); Harrison Williams (Boys 8/9 years); Amy Pritchard (Girls 10/11 years); Danielle Barnes (Girls 14 years+); and Scott Spearing (Boys 14 years+). Silver medallists were: Ben Hufton (Boys 8/9 years); Keiran Sharley (Boys 10/11 years) and Brandon Parker (Boys 14 years+). Bronze medallists were: Emily Martin (Girls 8/9 years); Thomas Graham (Boys 10/11 years) and Marcus Wiseman (Boys 14 years+).
The next big meet at The Quays is the Southampton Invitational from 24-26 October, one of the main competitions for the country's leading divers. Anyone is welcome to come along to see top level diving, including some members of the Olympics team and Southampton's full "elite" squad, competing this year for the first time for significant prize money.
