A team of 8 divers from Cambridge Dive Team travelled to Plymouth for the National Age Group Diving Championships and all produced stellar performances with star of the show 12-year-old Rufus Bord leading the charge winning 3 medals. This was the biggest team sent for 9 years and the first time a Cambridge diver has been on the podium for all three competitions since Ben Cutmore in 2013. The event was staged over four days with over 200 divers from all over the country taking part. Championships are held on the 1 and 3 metre springboards and the high board platforms.
Daisy Halls was the sole Cambridge diver in the girls group B events (14-16 years) competing against a very large and high standard field. In her first event Daisy placed 16th on the 3metre board. She turned on the pressure on the 1metre springboard earning a well-deserved 8th place, but she saved her best to the last day for the high board event. Her 2 final dives, a back twisting dive gaining 39 points and an inward one and a half somersaults awarded 42 points won her a magnificent 6th place.
Four Cambridge divers competed in the boys group C (12/13 years) with all four boys placed in the top 10 in the platform event. Ben Matthams took 9th place with a closely fought battle between the other three Cambridge boys Charles Tibbatts took 5th, Dominic Williams moved into 4th after a high-scoring final dive whilst Rufus Bord with high-scoring complex dives took the bronze medal.
In the 1m event. All the boys again dived well to once again secure themselves top ten finishes. Charles Tibbatts placing 10th, Ben Matthams 9th, Dominic Williams 7th with team-mate Rufus Bord scoring 42 points on his penultimate dive moving him into silver medal position just 1.5 points short of gold.
The final event for the Boys group C was the 3m event. After what had already been a long weekend the boys went into their final event, all finishing strongly. Dominic Williams placed 11th whilst managing to put in a huge back twisting dive for 40 points. Ben Matthams secured 8th place. Charles Tibbatts put in a solid first three rounds and finished with three high scoring final rounds to secure 5th place. Rufus Bord once again secured a podium spot with 6 well performed dives for his third medal, a bronze.
Three Cambridge divers competed in the girls group C (12/13 years) events. In the 1metre event all putting in some very solid performances to take top 10 finishes. Zia Gordon placed 10th. Teammate Tobi Fayomi 8th whilst Amelia Aldridge with two high-scoring final rounds took 5th narrowly missing out on a medal by 0.95 points.
First up on day two was the girls C 3m event. This event saw some strong diving by all the competitors. Tobi Fayomi placed 15th whilst team-mate Zia Gordon placed 9th securing herself a top 10 finish. Amelia Aldridge topped the team taking 6th place, a shaky final dive depriving her of a medal. Moving to the platform Tobi and Amelia used new dives to good effect. Amelia placed 14th whilst competing two new dives for the first time with her inward one and a half somersaults piked on 7.5m scoring 38.85 points. Team-mate Tobi tool a well-deserved 9th place whilst setting a new personal best in the process.
The event was a great success for Cambridge Dive Team having taken such a long hiatus from national diving events. Head coach Alice Clarke commented on the team’s success and positivity over the long weekend saying “this event has shown that the divers have worked so hard over the last year, for many of them this was their first national event and full season of diving. It’s a true testament to their commitment and resilience over the last few tough years”
