The British National Diving Cup kicked off with a number of debuts and the women’s 10m synchro saw all new pairs make up the podium on the first day of competition.
Georgia Ward and Emily Boyd (Dive London) took on the challenge from Tonia Couch and Lois Toulson (City of Leeds) and Robyn Birch and Victoria Vincent (Plymouth Diving) and came out on top.
Ward and Boyd were in joint first place with Couch and Toulson after the required dives with a score 94.80 and they took the lead in the penultimate round with their Inward 3 ½ Somersaults Tucked.
They won the gold and their first National title with a score of 306.36.
“It means so much to win,” Ward said. “It’s my first National title and I know how much it means to Emily too. We’ve both worked really hard and we just wanted to show that up there today.
“We were a bit nervous going in but we know each other so well so we know what each other needs when we compete.”
“We took it one dive at a time. It was our first time diving together and hopefully we’ll get to do it again,” Boyd said. “It’s not been too long that we’ve been diving together as I’ve moved representation from Australia so it’s only been from the start of the season.”
Tonia Couch (Plymouth Diving) and Lois Toulson (City of Leeds) were also debuting their partnership having started training together in December. They won silver with a score of 297.72. The bronze went to Robyn Birch and Victoria Vincent (Plymouth Diving) with 285.48 points.
Freddie Woodward returned to the British National Diving Cup after missing 2015’s event through injury with victory in the 1m Springboard.
The 2014 British Champion looked strong throughout the final but it was his Front 3 ½ Somersaults Tucked that shone as his best dive with a score of 70.50.
He won the gold with 371.05 points and said: “It was great to come back and win today. Obviously I missed last year through injury.
“I went into that feeling really strong and I’ve been feeling really powerful on 1m. That’s a great feeling too when you feel like you can dive effectively and powerfully it makes the dives easier because you can focus on the execution as opposed to just trying to get them off.”
James Denny (City of Leeds) won the silver medal with 365.35 points and Jordan Houlden took bronze with a score of 314.60. Guest diver Oliver Dingley (Ireland) finished in third scored 339.30
The women’s 1m Springboard was the first final of the competition and in what was an unpredictable final Grace Reid came out on top.
Edinburgh Diving’s Reid finished in second place in the prelims and impressed with a consistent performance in the final.
Her scores were in the 50s for each dive and she finished with a total of 254.55.
“I’m really pleased with that,” Reid said. “It was nice and consistent. I was a bit nervous but I kept it together.
“1m being on the first day of competition is ideal because it means that I can get the nerves out of the way and settle into the competition. 3m is the main goal; all the girls are after doing well in that event.”
City of Sheffield’s Clare Cryan took silver with 244.55 points and Rhea Gayle (Plymouth Diving) won the bronze medal with a score of 239.95.
Ross Haslam and Jordan Houlden (City of Sheffield) won the gold in the men’s 3m Synchro after beating club mates Freddie Woodward and Jack Haslam. Haslam and Houlden scored 363.18.
eid returned to the boards to team up with her club mate James Heatly to take the Mixed 3m Synchro title with a total of 264.60.
Swimming news courtesy of British Swimming.
