Luton Kingfisher Challenge 2009
Yet again the Cambridge Dive Team returned home from a National Competition with a bundle of medals and some outstanding performances. Matthew Roberts with a gold and Martin Christensen with silver and bronze led the haul of top six finishes at the Luton Challenge.
Six of the Cambridge Dive Team competed in this pre-season event which is notoriously hard. Divers have to compete in their forthcoming age-group, meaning that many are up against divers who are older and more experienced than themselves. Matthew Roberts topped the podium in the Men's 1m springboard event scoring 261.35, beating second place by nearly 30 points. Consistency was key for Matthew in a stiff competition that saw several divers make critical errors under the pressures of competition. Matthew also took fifth place in the Men's 3m springboard behind team-mate Ben Sambrook. Ben upped his game in the 3m final scoring almost 50 points a dive to take fourth place. Ben was noted as being a much improved diver from the year's early competitions, and this is credit to his dedication and hard work.
Martin Christensen showed that Cambridge is not only a predominantly springboard club but can also compete in the platform events. Martin took the silver medal in his current age-group's specialized 3m platform event with a final score of 141 points, just 2 points behind first place. Martin also claimed a bronze medal in the 5m platform event with a list of dives that covered all the possible skills in diving including multiple somersaults, twists and armstands. Martin yet again impressed the National head coach who believes the young diver has a big future ahead of him.
The Cambridge Dive Team followed up these medals with several other top six finishes including Sebastian Jaunzens taking fourth in the 3m platform and two fifths in the 1m and 3m springboard events. Emma Watson was placed fourth in the 3m platform and fifth in the 5m platform events, whilst Vivien Cliff finished sixth in the 3m springboard event. It was a very difficult competition for the young team with the pool environment being unusually cold and the days competitions lasting over ten hours. The early starts, late finishes, and cold temperatures were handled well by the divers and both Sam Buck and Marc Holdsworth, head coaches of the Cambridge Dive Team, were very impressed with the manner in which the young potentials competed with such maturity to remain a class above the rest of the field.