Promising Results for Young Novice Divers at White Rose 2022

Up first on Saturday was Ryan Church in the Boys D1 event, a category for 10-year-olds and under. Ryan pulled together a great set of dives for the 1m competition, with his optional dives of inward dive pike and back dive pike getting 7’s. This earned him a fantastic 6^th place and a spot in the final, where he chose his best 3 dives to compete again (compared to 12 in the preliminary). Ryan handled the pressure of his first competitive final well and improved his placings to get a 4^thplace, just one point off 3^rd.

Next up was Girls C1 (12-year-olds) and Girls C2 (13-year-olds) events. Yuting Wang, Yuzu Baxendale and Daisy Maddocks-Hunt competed in C1 finishing 8^th, 10^th and 13^th respectively. Meanwhile, Eva Tsang competed in the C2 category and showed off some fantastic power in her poolside skills to gain her an impressive 6^th place. In the final, Eva retained her 6^th place finishing with a beautiful back fall scoring 7’s from all judges.

The final event of the day was William Tibbatts in Boys B+ category (14+). As one of the youngest competitors in the category, William was up against some divers who had much more competition experience. Nevertheless, he held his nerve and managed an impressive 6^th place in the prelim, competing new dives and earning a spot in the final. Here, William showed a new confidence and was consistent in the rounds. Finishing with a 7 in his inward one and a half on 3m, William moved up the leader board into the bronze medal position.

Day 2 saw Karina Baxendale compete in the Girls E event (8/9-year-olds) and finish with an impressive 9^th place after a consistent performance. At such a young age, this is fantastic competitive experience for the young diver, with lots of positives to take away. Sophia Howard showed off some fantastic power and beautiful entries in Girls D1 to finish in 12^th.

Florence Tibbatts was the star of the weekend, gaining a fantastic 5^th place in the Girls D1 prelim with some steady diving, which saw her through to the final later in the day. Here, her form and good entries saw her rise up the rankings dive after dive! It was a close finish but Florence was determined to go for glory and a brilliant back fall from the 3m pushed her into the lead at the end of the competition, meaning she walked away from the event with a gold medal!

A special mention must also go to Cambridge Dive team’s apprentice coach, Tadhg Owers, for his superb support and coaching throughout the weekend. Tadhg said that he was inspired by the young athlete’s enthusiasm and impressive display.