Cambridge Dive Team took a group of five athletes to Leeds for the annual Swim England Talent Games. The event sees divers compete across both dryland and pool environments, showcasing a variety of skills, in the hunt for England’s up and coming talent.
The first day saw the athletes take part in the dryland section of the event which included multiple ‘stations’ covering acrobatic work and physical testing. Divers had to perform key diving skills such as handstands, somersaults and floor work while also being tested on their flexibility, core strength and agility. Here, CTD’s Ryan Church performed well, impressing the judges in both acrobatic and physical sections to place 3rd in his category. Meanwhile, team mate Sophia Howard also caught the judges attention, executing some solid routines to finish the day in third. Also in the girls’ category, Florence Tibbatts placed 9th, Hallie Cave placed 12th and Karina Baxendale finished the day in 19th.
As day two got underway, divers were now in the pool taking to the 1m and 3m boards to showcase both basic and more complex skills. In the girls group Karina placed 19th with Sophia just ahead in 16th, while Hallie and Florence also dived well in the pool taking 14th and 12th respectively. Star of the weekend, though, was Ryan who again impressed judges during the prelims to secure a place in the knock-outs during the afternoon. It was here on the 1m springboard where he kept his composure and finished 5th, adding to his combined dryland and pool score to take away the bronze medal overall. The divers hard work and achievements this year meant that CDT came away with some of their best results for the Swim England Games.
