Weymouth defends Platform title on day three

Owen Weymouth defended his Group A Platform title with victory in a nail-biting final on day three of the 2015 ASA National Age Group Diving Championships in Sheffield.

The 16-year old Plymouth diver was locked in a battle with Luton’s 1m champion Henry Biggs throughout the final. But Weymouth eventually prevailed on 314.30 with Biggs taking silver on 309.20 and City of Sheffield’s Harvey Travis bronze on 277.35.

There was a nervous wait for Weymouth after his final dive, with Biggs diving last and needing 68.10 to deny the Plymouth man.

And while Biggs saved his best dive for last, his score of 63.00 wasn’t enough to deny Weymouth his second gold of the week, having also landed the 3m Synchro title with teammate Alex Kostov on the opening day.

“To be honest I was very nervous coming into the event because I’m defending champion and it’s a lot to live up to,” said Weymouth, who won bronze in both the 1m and 3m Springboard. “The standard has improved incredibly since last year but it means the world to me to win the title again.

“Platform is my main event and springboard was just a bonus on the side so this is the event I’ve put most training and time into.

“I had big tariff dives to end with and managed to hit them all really nicely to win gold. Henry [Biggs] has improved majorly and when he hit his last dive, I was unsure which way it was going to go but in the end, the tariff of my biggest dive edged me past.”

Lexie Howard wins second gold of Championships

In the Girls Group A Platform, Crystal Palace’s Lexie Howard bagged her second gold of the Championships.

The 15-year old, who also won the 1m Springboard title and claimed bronze in the 3m, scored 307.45 to beat Sheffield’s 3m champion Rhian Humpage and Crystal Palace teammate Isobel Ruff.

The Girls Group B 1m Springboard came down to the wire with less than three points separating the top four going into the final round of dives.

Bradford Esprit diver Domi Hinchliffe held her nerve to prove best of the four, winning her first individual national title on 250.25. City of Sheffield’s Millie Fairhurst-Marshall took silver on 249.15 while Rosie Wilson Burrell won bronze for Harrogate on 248.95.

Albatross Diving Club scooped their first gold of the competition in the other event of the session as 11-year old James West won the Group D/E2 Platform event.

West scored 193.50 to take the title ahead of Plymouth’s Euan McCabe on 180.90 and City of Sheffield’s Ethan Chapman on 165.40.

  • Click here to view full results from the ASA National Age Group Diving Championships 2015.
Top