Parkside pools was recently host to the 2026 Swim England Cambridgeshire County Skills Championships. The event was an opportunity for divers from all over the county to take part across five categories.
The first two events were the group E and D age groups. Both categories run as a 12-dive circuit with three stations, each with four dives. Starting with the Group E Boys, Anton Reilly of Cambridge Dive Team was the gold medallist setting a new county record with a total score of 242.55. In the Girls category it was a well fought competition with Octavia Steer taking the silver medal with a score of 218.05 and Cosima Humphrey taking the gold medal with 235.05.
Boys D saw Cambridge Dive Team divers take the top three spots; Adrian Rojee placing 3rd with a score of 218.75 and Sebastian Zanella scoring 228.05 to take the silver medal. However, way out in front with an impressive score of 252.55 was James Hughes scooping up the gold. Meanwhile the Girls Group D was won by Gabriella Aldridge with a score of 229.30 after showing the judges some impressive diving.
Up next was the group C event, and in a shake-up of format the criteria was reviewed to better align diving across the national and regional skills pathways. Group C now consists of two set skills and three optional skills on the 1m, followed by two ‘line-ups’ of the divers’ choice and three optional dives on the 3m board. The Gold medal in the boys event was won by Raymond Hu with a score of 240.45 setting a new county record. Fellow Cambridge team mate Digby Bord scored 200.95 to take the silver medal. Group C Girls was a tightly fought event with Erica Webster placing 4th, and Naomi Rojee taking the bronze medal with a score of 222. Tightly separated by only 6 points the gold medal went to Phoebe Carter-Burch with a new county record of 238.75 whilst Melodie Meeds placed 2nd with 231.15.
Group B events follows a slightly different set of dives to group C with the divers having five optional dives on the 1m board followed by another five optional dives on the 3m. Kirsty Matthams was our gold medal winner with 229.25.
Group A was the final event of the day with the divers also competing over two boards. In the boys 1event Jack Halls took the gold medal on both 1m and 3m with a score of 183.55, setting a new county record, and 160.85 respectively. Despite being the last event of the day, the girls Group A event kept spectators on the edge of their seats. Yuting Wang took the bronze medal on both boards with a score of 137.00 on 1m and a score of 141.75 on the 3m board. Meanwhile Eva Tsang took home the silver medal on 1m with a score of 174.80, with her team-mate Yuzu Baxendale narrowly beating her to the gold with a score of 179.80. Yuzu also took the gold on 3m setting a new county record in the process with a total score of 183.45 with Eva Tsang in silver place.
