Southampton was the centre of attention for British diving last weekend (24-26 October) when it hosted one of the biggest meets of the UK diving calendar. The annual three-day Southampton Invitational meet attracted some 170 competitors including many of the country's leading divers. With major cash prizes on offer for the first time, the meet saw top divers from all parts of the country descending on The Quays and pushing the home divers hard. Southampton Diving Academy fielded a team of 50 divers, evidence of the depth of local talent able to compete at this level. And despite fierce competition, Southampton came out on top as the winning team, securing a clean sweep in two events in the process.
With several of Southampton's British team divers competing, the home team hoped to do well but with some leading divers out of action, it needed to deliver top marks across all the events. In the end, an excellent performance saw Southampton beat its nearest rival, City of Sheffield, by a wide margin in the team event (492 points to 326). Outstanding individual performances were reinforced by the breadth of Southampton successes: of the 90 medals to be won, Southampton divers won 1 in 3, including 14 golds - nearly half of the first places being contested. Such an achievement provides further evidence that Southampton is successfully keeping its place amongst the top ranked clubs in the UK.
Two events saw complete Southampton dominance, with local girls winning all three medals in the Platform events for both the 14/15 years and the 16/18 years age groups.
Outstanding individual performances in the men's events gave SDA a clean sweep of the open mens events with gold for Max Brick in the Men's Open Platform where he showed himself to be in a class of his own, establishing an near unsurpassable lead early in the event (and he also won his age group 3 metre event), and two golds for Chris Mears, winning the Mens Open 1m and 3m Springboard.
In the boys' events, Southampton divers excelled across the age groups. Stephen Lingard, diving in a group above his age, saw off older competitors to win the Boys 16/18 years Platform. Alastair Khakoo won a tightly-fought competition in the Boys 12/13 events, winning two golds in the 1m Springboard and the Platform events, and beating the current National champion in both events. 11 year old Lewys Oakley showed that he's continuing to be a young force to be reckoned with, winning 2 golds out of 2 events in the Boys 10/11 years 1m and 3m Springboard events.
In the girls' competition, 11 year old Chloe Pook won both her events at her own age level in the 1m and 3m Springboard. Rosie Medlock, diving out of age (she's 13) won the Girls 14/15 years Platform, leading the group of Southampton girls who showed the depth of local talent at this age group by taking the first four places. Emily Alderman won the 16/18 years Platform. In the Women's events Southampton Olympian Stacie Powell won gold in the Platform and British Junior 13 year old Georgie Wingrove took silver in the Open 3m Springboard, and bronze in the open 1 metre springboard, showing she can compete successfully at any age level.
Charly Tomkys commented that "It's a great start to the season, which puts us in a great position for the main events next year."
Southampton coach Lindsey Fraser commented "What's striking is the strength of Southampton diving across all events and at all age levels. With leading divers from very strong clubs across the country, this competition was never going to be plain sailing. But our divers stepped up to the mark and delivered a determined performance. The strength and commitment of our younger divers in particular shows that Southampton has built strong foundations for high-level team and individual success over the next few years."
Detailed results:
Team event (top 6 places out of 18 teams scoring points): (1) Southampton Diving Academy 492 points; (2) City of Sheffield 326; (3) Crystal Palace 254; (4) Cambridge 26; (5) Bradford 104; (6) Albatross Reading 85.
Southampton Diving Academy medallists:
Girls: 10/11 yrs 1m Springboard: Gold - Chloe Pook; 10/11 yrs 3m Springboard: Gold - Chloe Pook; 12/13 yrs 1m Springboard: Bronze - Sarah White; 12/13 yrs 3m Springboard: Bronze - Rosie Medlock; 14/15 yrs 1m Springboard: Silver - Georgie Wingrove; 14/15 yrs 3m Springboard: Silver- Bethany Watts; 14/15 yrs Platform: Gold - Rosie Medlock; Silver - Georgie Wingrove; Bronze - Rachel Holland; 16/17 yrs 3m Springboard: Bronze - Jaimee Gundry; 16/17 yrs Platform: Gold - Emily Alderman; Silver - Fran Godfroy; Bronze - Jaimee Gundry.
Womens: Open 3m Springboard: Silver - Georgie Wingrove; Bronze - Rachel Holland; Open Platform: Gold - Stacie Powell; Bronze - Emily Alderman.
Boys: 10/11 yrs 1m Springboard: Gold - Lewys Oakley; 10/11 yrs 3m Springboard: Gold - Lewys Oakley; Bronze - Max Cott; 10/11 yrs Platform: Silver - Max Cott; 12/13 yrs 1m Springboard: Gold - Alastair Khakoo; 12/13 yrs Platform: Gold - Alastair Khakoo; 16/17 yrs 1m Springboard: Bronze - Sam Knapp; 16/17 yrs 3m Springboard: Gold - Max Brick; 16/17 yrs Platform: Gold - Stephen Lingard; Bronze - Sam Knapp
Mens: Open 1m Springboard: Gold - Chris Mears; Open 3m Springboard: Gold - Chris Mears; Open Platform: Gold - Max Brick.
Max Brick won the Gavin Brown trophy for the highest score in a back or reverse dive, before applying the tariff for the degree of difficulty with a score of 24 points from a back 2½ somersaults.
