Sheffield divers star in Olympic trials at Ponds Forge

A spectacular demonstraton of excellence from Britain's top divers drew massive crowds to Ponds Forge last weekend for the Olympic trials
Sheffield divers, from left,  Millie Fowler, Ross Haslam, Jordan Houlden and Millie HaffetySheffield divers, from left,  Millie Fowler, Ross Haslam, Jordan Houlden and Millie Haffety
Sheffield divers, from left, Millie Fowler, Ross Haslam, Jordan Houlden and Millie Haffety

Divers such as Tom Daley and Jack Laugher showed the qualities that have already gained them selection for Rio 2016 while others took to the boards to see if they could fill the remaining places.

With Britain’s top 3 metre synchro pairing of Jack Laugher and Chris Mears not competing, Sheffield’s Ross Haslam joined forces with Edinburgh’s James Heatly to take advantage and win the gold medals. Just a single point separated them from the all Sheffield pairing of his brother Jack and Freddie Woodward, who took the silver medal.

Freddie Woodward, left, after winning silver in the  3m springboardFreddie Woodward, left, after winning silver in the  3m springboard
Freddie Woodward, left, after winning silver in the 3m springboard
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Freddie was also a silver medallist in the 3 metre springboard event behind Jack Laugher with Jack Haslam fourth, Jordan Houlden fifth and Ross Haslam sixth. Freddie produced a consistent series of dives to pull 40 points clear of his rivals, scoring best with a forward 3½ somersault dive in the second round for 72 points.

Millie Haffety and Millie Fowler continued their excellent form in 2016 with silver medals in the 3 metre synchro event behind Rio selections Alicia Blagg and Rebecca Gallantree from Leeds. Their highest performing dive was a forward 2½ somersault with one twist which earned 65 points. In the same event, Yasmin Harper and Holly Prasanto came fourth. In the individual 3 metre springboard event, Sarah Leach was fourt, Clare Cryan fifth and Millie Haffety seventh.

Sheffield’s final medals came in the mens platform synchro event where Elliot Beeden and Conrad Lewandowski performed superbly against Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow. In the individual platform event, Owen Harrison came fifth and Elliot Beeden eigth behind the imperious Tom Daley. Georgia Davenport came 6th in the women’s platform event. Fern Hitchen and Raffael Benitez also performed well in their respective events.

City of Sheffield head coach Tom Owens said: “I am delighted with the performances of our divers, who showed that they are both nationally and internationally competitive.”