Armada Cup 2008
Central Park Pool, Plymouth
15th - 17th February 2008
The Cambridge Dive Team took a team of eight divers aged 9-15 years old to compete in the 2008 Armada Cup in Plymouth, one of the most prestigious diving events of the year. They returned home after three long days of competition with two bronze medals and six other top six placings. It was the more senior divers, Aaron Paul and Matthew Roberts who lead the team with bronze medals in the boys group A 1m springboard and platform categories respectively.
Matthew Roberts (aged 15) took to the heights of the 5 and 7½ metre platforms in the boys group A category. After some consistently solid required dives finishing cleanly through the water, Matthew was in a strong position and qualified for the final. In the final, a back two and half somersaults tucked from the 5m, which had previously let Matthew down in the past, was made to look easy and set him up for a good result. Finishing with a brand new dive that he has worked hard on in training to boost his degree of difficulty, the bronze medal was truly deserved. Competing against divers who were potentially 2 years older than him, Matthew dived to a new personal best and started the succession of good results.
Aaron Paul, also competing in the boys group A category, joined Matthew in the springboard events. Aaron's power and good form gave him the chance of challenging for a medal against a strong field containing two former Junior European finalists. Performing his first of 3 dives in the final, Aaron's forward two and half somersaults ripped through the water effortlessly. His back and inwards one and half somersaults piked were consistent and showed off his potential as a future Junior European diver. Aaron fought hard in the final to finish in the bronze medal position. He and Matthew both made finals on the 3m springboard proving to the rest of the diving community that Cambridge has two possible senior medalists amongst their wealth of talent.
Daniel Goodfellow and Lucy Cliff diving in group C (12/13 years), which at present is the toughest age group in the whole of British diving, justified their places on the Junior England squad by making the 3m finals. Daniel showed a positive attitude and style, which is becoming recognized as his own within British diving, to finish 5th. His inward two and half somersaults tucked stood out as one of the dives of the competition scoring 6.5 from all judges. After a disappointing 1m Daniel's competitive attitude took a big set-back but he regained his confidence in the 3m event. Lucy Cliff dived with grace and poise along with an attitude of a professional. Two superb dives at the start of her list on 3m list placed Lucy in first and gave her a good basis to continue from. Competing some difficult optionals meant her scores began to drop but finishing with a back two and half somersaults tucked bought her back into contention in a closely fought event. A final place of 5th was a great effort by Lucy and results will get better as the more difficult dives start to accentuate her flawless form. Sebastian Jaunzens also dived well, especially in the boys group C platform event. After a troublesome training session Sebastian's determined nature and relentless positive attitude pushed him to score 5s for his troublesome dive in the competition. It also bought him the respect of the coaches from the other competitive clubs.
In the Boys group B age group Ben Sambrook dived to a new personal best under the guidance of Cambridge's new coach, Josh Karshen. A much improved Ben performed a list of increased difficulty that saw him challenge for a top six finish. Unfortunately, due to the increased difficulty Ben lost some marks for form but remained focused to finish 8th out of 30 divers. His performance has boosted his confidence to new heights and the future looks bright for unearthed talent.
Vivien Cliff, Cambridge's only group A female diver, held her nerve to see a top ten placing in women's platform event. Diving from heights of 7½m was made to look easy by Vivien during her required dives. Only losing out on making the finals by a slightly reduced degree of difficulty, Vivien showed good all round diving ability performing one and half somersaults both in a forward and inward direction. Reducing the height to the 1m springboard again highlighted her ability as a jack of all trades. Keeping relaxed and upbeat meant Vivien enjoyed the competition even under the stress of some very difficult dives.
With recent additions to its coaching staff, the Cambridge Dive Team's future as a competitive club is looking stronger with every competition. It has talent at all ages and is reaping the benefit of newly introduced training programmes.
Posted 24/02/2008