Top junior divers attend ASA Talent Games in Leeds

The weekend of 8-9 October 2016 was the annual ASA Talent Games, held at Leeds John Charles Centre for Sport.

This was the selection event for the lowest tier of the ASA England Programmes Talent Pathway, with the country’s best youngsters in action.

The competition was held in two parts with the dryland competitions on the Saturday and pool skills on Sunday.

More than 60 children took part, including a guest team of eight divers from Edinburgh, and competition was strong. Standards were noticeably higher than in previous years, with everyone wanting to claim a spot on the Talent Programme.

At the end of the first day in dryland, Todd Geggus (Southend) and Robbie Lee (Southampton) were at the top of their respective boys’ age groups.

Meanwhile, Maisie Bond (Sheffield) and Jenna Davison (Sheffield) were topping the girls.

Overall winners decided on Sunday

After a great day in the pool on Sunday, Gegus held on to his first spot for overall winner in his age group. One of our guest divers, Kade Hamilton (Edinburgh), claimed the older boys’ top spot.

It was a clean sweep for Sheffield in the girls’ events with Bond and Davison hanging on for gold in the younger and older age groups respectively.

This year’s Talent Games was a fantastic display of the diving talent we have in the sport.

It was a fantastic event with lots of exciting new talent out there and some great skills on show.

Divers selected to Team Z of the talent programme will attend a series of camps and competitions over the next two years. These will develop them as athletes and prepare them for the next step on the talent pathway.

Fantastic display of diving talent in the sport

Connie Ford, ASA Diving Talent Officer said: ‘This year’s Talent Games was a huge success and a fantastic display of the diving talent we have in the sport.

“It is very exciting to see the standard increase each year. Now we are looking forward to selecting our successful Team Z Squad and watching them progress.

“Thank you to all the volunteers and coaches who helped over the weekend. It wouldn’t be possible without them.”

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