Sheffield divers dominate at British diving championships

With a number of Olympians and Commonwealth Games stars taking part, the diving was of the highest quality and was a real treat for the spectators and supporters to watch.

The first day began with the Women’s 1m preliminaries. Amelia Scott scored 183.00 to come in 13th and Elizabeth Powley scored 193.15 for 12th place, but it was Yasmin Harper, Holly May Prasanto and Clare Cryan who went through to the finals in 3rd, 4th and 8th places respectively.

In the final later that afternoon, Cryan scored 227.65 for 9th place, Prasanto scored 264.65 to move up to second place for the silver medal, and Harper scored 269.30 to win the gold medal.

A little piece of history was made in this event, as Cryan became the first female to compete a forward two-and-a-half somersaults one twist piked on 1m in the UK.Next up were the Men, competing on the 3m springboard. In a large field of 32 divers, Arthur-Turner-Rowe scored 284.00 to take 17th place and Declan Rogan made 291.10 for 13th place.

Going through to the final were Ross Haslam in 3rd place with 430.25 and Jordan Houlden in 1st with 463.90, helped by a massive score of 91.80 for his back three-and-a-half somersaults with tuck. In the final, both divers achieved some impressive dives, particularly Haslam’s forward four-and-a-half somersaults with tuck that scored 91.20 and Houlden’s forward two-and-a-half somersaults three twists scoring93.60.

Haslam took bronze with 444.35 and Houlden the gold with 488.75.The day ended with the Women’s 3m synchro event. Yasmin Harper was back in action for Sheffield, teaming up with Scarlett Mew Jensen of Dive London Aquatics Club. The pair were in control from the start and really showed their class with their forward two-and-a-half somersaults one twist, which earned them 63.90.

Their final score was 263.04 for the title and gold medal, ending a very satisfactory day for Sheffield with a total of three gold medals, one silver and one bronze.

On day two, the men were first to take to the boards, with the 1m preliminaries. Arthur Turner-Rowe came 15th with 217.80, while going through to the final were Declan Rogan in 6th place with 307.90, Jordan Houlden in 2nd place with 360.90 and Ross Haslam 1st with 379.00.

The final saw Rogan finishing 8th with 272.25 and Houlden 3rd with 352.60, while Haslam was unstoppable – the only diver to top the 400 points mark, he romped home with 426.45 to take the gold and the title.The women were in action next, in the Platform competition. Coming in 12th with 176.05 was Jessica Vega, while going through to the final were Tia McGarry with 248.25 for 6th place and Maisie Bond in 3rd with 295.90.

The final ended with McGarry in 6th place, having scored 261.10 and Bond in 5th with 268.60.Finishing the day was the Men’s 3m synchro event. Sheffield’s Ross Haslam teamed up with James Heatly of Edinburgh Diving Club. Although the Italian pairing of Matteo Santoro and Stefano Belotti came in first, Haslam and Heatly achieved the highest-scoring dive of the competition, with 90.06 for their forward four-and-a-half somersaults and were top of the British teams, taking gold and the title with 370.17.

The final day saw Sheffield’s youngest competitor, Archie Biggin, take to the boards in the Platform competition. Biggin scored 223.35 in the preliminaries to finish in 10th place, going on to improve his score to 244.40 in the final and come in 9th.The last competition of the meet was the Women’s 3m springboard event. Amelia Scott scored 220.65 to finish 12th, while going through to the final were Holly May Prasanto with 239.95 for 9th place, Clare Cryan in 4th overall with 282.50 and Yasmin Harper in 3rd place in the British divers with 282.20.

Prasanto finished 9th in the final with 244.40, while Cryan – who was diving as a non-British guest – came 2nd overall with 303.15, including a huge 72 points for her forward two-and-a-half somersaults one twist piked, to take a silver medal. In doing so, Cryan achieved a new Personal Best and also set a new Irish record.

However, it was Harper who took the title and gold medal as the highest scoring British diver, with 299.75.

It was a very successful few days of competition for Sheffield Diving. In all, the team won six gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze, making a very respectable total of ten medals at this highest of levels nationally. With representatives in eight out of the ten events, to win six national titles was a huge achievement.

Commenting on the successes over the weekend, Sheffield Diving Head Coach Tom Owens said, “We are delighted to achieve our biggest medal haul in the last decade and take all the titles in the Men’s and Women’s springboard events.

"These outstanding results mean we have a busy international season upon us, with three divers competing at the World Diving Championships in Japan in July, four at the European Games in Krakow, Poland, in June and three selected to compete at the European championships in August in Croatia.”