Cambridge Dive Team swept the board at the County Senior and Junior Diving Championships winning all titles and setting new record figures in all events.
The championships returned after an absence of two years and divers wowed the crowds to show they have lost none of their skills during the Covid off-season. Athletes compete in the 1metre and 3metre springboards and 5metre platform events with medals for each event and a trophy for highest accumulated score.
The 14 years and over senior events were walk away wins for Max Burnell and Daisy Halls, with both divers winning three individual titles and the overall trophy. Daisy, building on successes earlier in the year, amassed an impressive total of 524.35 points on 15 dives. Meanwhile Max, returning to competitions after a break, showed he is approaching full form again with 530.65 on 18 dives.
The junior events (under 14 years) were more closely contested with the boys performing 5 dives on each board and the girls 4 dives. The standard was high in all events with divers taking the opportunity to test their ability on new dives. Rufus Bord took the three individual boys’ titles but was closely followed by Dominic Williams (silver) and Ben Matthams (bronze), all three boys pushing each other’s limits. Charlie Tibbatts put up a fight in the platform event in a tussle with Ben for the silver position with scores exactly level going into the final round. However, it was a fine inward 1.5 somersaults from Ben that edged him into silver position with Rufus 12 points clear at the top and winning the overall trophy with 504.35 points.
The Girls event saw even tighter results with Amelia Aldridge and Tobi Fayomi battling it out in all three events, with never more than a few points separating them. The 1metre event was a win for Amelia, with Tobi in silver position and Eva Tsang taking the bronze while Yuzu Baxendale finished in an impressive 4th position were diving in their first competition at this level. Tobi then turned the tables on Amelia to take the 3metre title with just 4 points separating them and Yuzi managed to squeeze out Eva on the last dive to take the bronze medal. The final platform was an exciting finish to see who could win with an enough of a points margin to take the overall trophy. It went to the wire with Amelia just edging it and winning the trophy with a total 389.20 from her 12 dives.
Head Coach of Cambridge Dive Team Alice Clarke was impressed with the divers’ performances saying it was good to see the return of this event and such impressive scores. Looking ahead from this warm-up event, the divers will be competing at the East Region Championships this weekend, with much success to springboard from.
