Pathway divers set to compete against Britain’s best at British Championships

Members of Swim England’s diving pathway are set to compete against some of the nation’s top divers at the 2023 British Diving Championships.

The young divers will get the opportunity to test themselves against the likes of Matty Lee, Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Daniel Goodfellow throughout the four days at Ponds Forge, Sheffield.

The competition will see the divers go in search of national titles across 1m and 3m springboard and 10m platform contests, in both individual and synchronised events.

It’s a key selection event for all the divers involved, with the senior divers looking to secure their places at July’s World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan and the upcoming European Games in Poland.

That includes the likes of Lee, Goodfellow and Spendolini-Sirieix but also former Swim England Talent Pathway athletes such as Desharne Bent-Ashmeil.

The divers on the pathway will be looking to continue their impressive form from the British Junior Championships event where current Swim England pathway divers won more than 30 medals.

A number of the Team Y divers that competed at the Junior Championships in Plymouth are back on the boards in South Yorkshire as they aim to make the British squad for the European Junior Diving Championships in August.

Amongst the Team Y contingent are Hannah Newbrook and Todd Geggus who both won medals at the European Junior Championships last summer.

‘A great experience’

This year’s competition sees the final sizes increased to admit 12 divers (up from eight previously) to replicate the standard international final size which will give our younger divers more experience of top level competition.

It also welcomes divers from across the globe from countries such as Italy, Sweden and Jamaica all holding entries into the competition.

And Sarah Barrow, Swim England Growth Officer, who will be Chief Referee of the event,  says it will be a great experience for the young athletes.

She said: “Team Y have enjoyed a great start to the season with some excellent performances at the British Junior Championships last month.

“A lot of them will be competing against people they’ve looked up to for a long time so it will be a great experience for them and all our pathway divers.

“It will be really exciting for them to pitch themselves against the Olympic and World Class athletes and see what they’re working towards in the future.”

You can watch all the action from the British Diving Championships on the British Swimming YouTube channel or you can follow the live results page here.