Armada Cup 2016 and G-Star Leeds 2016
Southampton Diving Academy had a busy February half term, sending a team of 22 divers to Plymouth and 9 divers to Leeds to compete in competitions which will determine whether or not the divers have reached the qualifying standard to compete at the National Age Group Finals and Junior Elites events later this year. Both the Armada Cup, and G-Star are key 3 day events in the diving calendar and are very well attended by clubs from the whole of the UK, so the standard is high with experienced Commonwealth divers in attendance as well as young divers just testing themselves at this level.
Over in sunny Plymouth, the atmosphere was charged, in Girls C (Ages 12/13), Evelyna Johnson finished in the top six in the preliminary rounds and therefore made the finals on all 3 boards (1m and 3m Spring Boards, and the Platform) winning Gold on the 1m and Bronze on both the 3m and the Platform holding her nerve against some very strong competition. Team mate Milly Batten also made the finals on the 1m finishing in 5th place overall out of a 25 strong field.
In Girls D (Ages 10/11) Dulcie Wilson was diving well and also reached all three finals finishing 5th, 6th and 5th respectively on the 1m, 3m and Platform. Younger team mate Collette Guyett-Smith joined Dulcie in the Platform Final to finish 6th (in spite of a nose bleed mid competition).
Meanwhile the finalists in the Boys events were all in Group D (Ages 10/11) where the 3 SDA boys made their presence felt on each board. Milo French reaching the finals in the 1m with a 4th place finish overall; Robbie Lee making the finals on both the 3m and Platform with Bronze and 6th place respectively, and Leon Baker taking the Gold on the 3m and Bronze on the Platform with some solid and consistent diving.
It was a tough competition for all of our divers; SDA coaches Jack Clewlow and Sam Hydes were really pleased with the performances from all of the divers, many of them achieving PB’s over the 3 days.
Up in Leeds the following weekend, the action was no less exciting with some of our best junior divers taking to the boards. There were finals a plenty with Angus Kerr reaching all 3, winning Silver on both the 1m and 3m, and 6th place on the Platform in Boys Group C (12/13) with some of the most consistent diving and scoring of the weekend.
Brandon Foster in Boys Group B (14/16) was on top form on the Platform taking the Gold with a stunning forward 3.5 somersault in the tuck position from the 10m receiving 8.5 and 8’s from the judges. Brandon also reached the final for the 3m, finishing in 6th place. Team mate Thomas Bailey came back from injury and made the final on the 1m to take 5th place, and Cameron Gammage made the 10m Platform final finishing in 5th place.
Meanwhile in Boys A+ (16/18) Thomas Graham made the finals on the Platform finishing in 6th place against some very experienced competition.
Head coach Lindsey Fraser said “These two events demonstrated the depth in our programme right now across all levels of Junior competition. Well done to coaches and divers alike”
Full Results:
Armada Cup 2016 – Plymouth
Girls Group D & Under 1m
6th Dulcie Wilson, 7th Collette Guyett-Smith
Girls Group D & Under 3m
6th Dulcie Wilson, 8th Collette Guyett-Smith
Girls Group D & Under Platform
5th Collette Guyett-Smith, 6th Dulcie Wilson.
Boys Group D & Under 1m
5th Milo French, 9th Robbie Lee, 10th Leon Baker
Boys Group D & Under 3m
2nd Robbi Lee, 3rd Leon Baker, 9th Milo French
Boys Group D & Under Platform
2nd Leon Baker, 5th Robbie Lee, 7th Milo French
Girls Group C 1m
3rd Evelyna Johnson, 6th Milly Batten, 10th Tia Pritchard, 11th Sofia Sathio, 14th Victoria Ward, 16th Maya Kutty, 18th Olive Ullyatt, 23rd Astrid Davis
Girls Group C 3m
5th Evelyna Johnson, 12th Sofia Sathio, 14th Milly Batten, 17th Maya Kutty, 19th Tia Pritchard, 21st Victoria Ward, 22nd Olive Ullyatt, 23rd Astrid Davis
Girls Group C Platform
3rd Evelyna Johnson, 11th Milly Batten, 12th Tia Pritchard, 13th Olive Ullyatt, 16th Maya Kutty, 17th Victoria Ward, 20th Sofia Sathio, 22nd Astrid Davis
Boys Group C 1m
15th Alex Walton, 18th Nathan Bull, 20th Ashley Burnard, 21st Kai Lanham
Boys Group C 3m
17th Ashley Burnard, 19th Alex Walton, 21st Nathan Bull, 22nd Kai Lanham
Boys Group C Platform
15th Alex Walton, 16th Ashley Burnard, 19th Nathan Bull, 20th Kai Lanham
Girls Group B 1m
12th Gabrielle Kirkham, 16th Ella Anderson, 17th Chloe Harrington
Girls Group B 3m
11th Gabrielle Kirkham 14th Chloe Harrington, 15th Ella Anderson,
Girls Group B Platform
12th Gabrielle Kirkham, 14th Ella Anderson, 15th Chloe Harrington
Boys Group B 1m
15th Reuben Brown
Boys Group B 3m
13th Reuben Brown
Boys Group B Platform
13th Reuben Brown
Girls Group A+ 1m
9th Katie McArthur
Girls Group A+ 3m
8th Katie McArthur
Girls Group A+ Platform
10th Katie McArthur
G-Star 2016 – Leeds
Boys Group C 1m
2nd Angus Kerr, 8th Ethan Bennett
Boys Group C 3m
3rd Angus Kerr, 11th Ethan Bennett
Boys Group C Platform
2nd Angus Kerr, 12th Ethan Bennett
Girls Group B 1m
21st Jessica Bennett
Girls Group B 3m
18th Jessica Bennett
Girls Group B Platform
12th Jessica
Boys Group B 1m
5th Thomas Bailey, 7th Brandon Foster, 9th Cameron Gammage
Boys Group B 3m
5th Brandon Foster, 7th Thomas Bailey, 11th Cameron Gammage
Boys Group B Platform
2nd Brandon Foster, 3rd Cameron Gammage
Boys Group A+ 1m
8th Thomas Graham, 10th Scott Palmer, 12th Elliot Moorhouse
Boys Group A+ 3m
9th Thomas Graham, 11th Elliot Moorhouse, 14th Scott Palmer
Boys Group A+ Platform
5th Thomas Graham, 7th Scott Palmer