Parkside Pools was host to the annual Swim England Cambridgeshire County Skills Championships. This event saw divers from across the county compete a range of dives and skills from different board heights, including the 1 meter, 3 meter and 5 meter platform. All medallists were Cambridge Dive Team athletes, solidifying the club’s reputation for impressive results.
During the first event divers completed a 12-dive circuit which included four dives on poolside, four dives on 1m and four dives on 3m. The competitors in this event were in the junior age-group categories, all competing with one another but split for results and medals.
Group E boys (eight years old) was won by Adrian Rojee with a score of 206 points. Adrian’s highest scoring dive was his back fall straight from the 3m board, a key ‘line-up’ skill for all ages and abilities. Adrian was the youngest competitor for Cambridge at this event and demonstrated promising talent for his career to come.
Group D boys (nine to 11 years old) was a tough event in which all three Cambridge medallists dived well and put in really strong dives. Digby Bord took the bronze medal with a score of 211.90 while Sebastian Zanella came in second with a score of 222.80 – his highest scoring dive being a back fall straight from the 3m board. The gold medal in this event went to James Hughes with a score of 237.30. James dived consistently throughout the event with his highest scoring dive being his back dive tuck from the 1m board.
Girls Group D was another heavily contested event with the top two split by only 0.95 points. Gabriella Aldridge was the winner of this event with a score of 224.10, consistently performing throughout the event to take the win. Narrowly missing out on the gold was Naomi Rojee with a score of 223.15. This was Naomi’s first county event and she performed superably to secure the silver medal. Teammate Erica Webster rounded out the podium for Cambridge with a bronze medal and a score of 204.45.
The Group C (12 – 13 years old) girls was the final event in this format with Cambridge divers taking the top four spots. Melodie Meeds placed 4th with a score of 256.90 while Phoebe Carter-Burch picked up a bronze medal with 261.85. Kirsty Matthams took the silver medal narrowly beating her teammates with a score of 264.60 and the recipient of the gold medal was Karina Baxendale, wining by over 15 points with a score of 281.05. All girls demonstrated their hard work through some impressive diving and clean entries into the water.
The second part of the evening saw Groups B and A (14 – 15, and 16 – 18 years old respectively) take to the boards but in a slightly different format. Group B divers performed five dives on the 1m and five dives on the 3m boards to get an accumulative score. In the girls’ event the winner was CDT’s Yuzu Baxendale, adding another gold medal to the household alongside her sister in the previous event. Yuzu won with a score of 293.65 after holding her nerve throughout the event.
The group A divers were up next, competing six dives on 1m and then a further six on the 3m in separate competitions. Eva Tsang took the gold in both girls’ events with scores of 182.55 and 167.60 respectively, while both the boys’ A events were won by Jack Halls with scores of 177.50 and 167.75. Teammate William Tibbatts took the two silver medals with scores of 157.80 on the 1m and 158.70 on the 3m board, with all group A divers showcasing some impressive skills.
