National Age Group Championships Results 2007
Daniel Goodfellow struck gold three times at the National Age Group diving championships helping the successful Cambridge Dive Team to scoop no less than six gold medals. 11 year old Daniel in just his second time at the National Age Groups represented the Cambridge Dive Team in the boys group D (10-11years) and competed in four events, the 1m springboard, 3m springboard, 5m platform and the synchronised springboard event. The first of Daniel's four events was his favourite: the 3m springboard event. After a shaky start on his first dive he then performed difficult dives to a very high standard scoring between 35-40 points on each dive to take a comfortable victory with 178.95 points for his first gold medal, 15 points clear of second place. There were some excellent performances by all competitors in highboard platform event but Daniel outshone the rest with complicated graceful dives scoring highly on all. His final score of 142.50 points was too much for the rest of the competition and Daniel claimed his second gold medal of the day. Moving to the 1m springboard event Daniel dived a confident complicated list, his last dive was by far his best scoring 6 on a difficult inward 1½ somersaulting dive. The 40 points he achieved with this dive helped him secure 142.55 points for his third gold medal. Daniel then teamed up with 12 year old Ryan Strudwick of the Southampton Diving Academy to compete in the boys 8-13 years synchronised diving event. With only one day of training the pair managed to synchronise their dives effectively and were looking forward to the competition. The duo put in a splendid performance to take the bronze medal with a score of 135.84 points.
Team mate 11 year old Lucy Cliff started the competition as she meant to go on using difficult powerful dives in the girls group D (10-11 years) 1m springboard event. An excellent display put Lucy way out ahead with her final dive letting her down and giving the others a chance to catch up but no one could reach her final score and Lucy won her first National Age Group event with a score of 144.45 points. The next event for Lucy was the 3m springboard, with a combination of high tariff dives and a graceful line Lucy was determined to perform well in this event. A beautiful second dive scored more than 35 points to help Lucy reach a total of 150.70 points and secure her second gold medal of the competitions. Lucy's final event was from the 5m platform, and although in the lead touched the platform with her feet on her penultimate dive causing her to loose points and even a complicated final dive couldn't push her back into the medals and had to settle for fourth with a score of 118.70 points.
Competing in their first National Age Group Championships, Emma Watson and Anna Sambrook dived for the Cambridge Dive Team in the girls group E (8-9 years) events. Competing in the 1m springboard event Emma & Anna looked hungry for a spot on the podium with both divers performing with style and grace. Anna was unlucky not to take the bronze medal with a final score of 93.40 points, finishing in fourth. It was young Emma Watson's time to shine with a splendid performance giving her a total of 116.30 points and the gold medal, an excellent result from the girl's first National Age Group Championships. In the 3m springboard event both Anna and Emma were diving beautifully in training but Emma was forced to pull out due to illness leaving Anna to fly the flag for the Cambridge Dive Team. An impressive performance put Anna in 5th place after the final round with a solid score of 82.40 points.
Three boys represented Cambridge in the boys group C (12-13 years) competition. Harry Kitson competed alongside brothers Ben & Josh Sambrook in the 1m springboard event. The boys competed well finishing 12th, 13th & 15th in a 20 strong field. Ben and Josh also competed on the 3m springboard and 5m platform finishing 15th & 17th on 3m and 11th & 14th on platform respectively.
These results from the National Age Group Championships are one of the greatest achievements for the Cambridge Dive team in the past three years. In total the City of Leeds Diving Club gained 7 golds, Cambridge Dive Team 6, Southampton Diving Academy 5, Plymouth 4, Beaumont 4, Sheffield 3 with Southend and Crystal Palace 1 each. The coaching team were delighted with the results that highlight the hard work and determination of the Cambridge Dive Team.
Posted 05/04/2007.
