Swim England talent divers prove they can compete on biggest stage

Divers on the Swim England Talent Programme proved they have the skills to compete on the biggest stage with some excellent results at the British National Diving Cup.

Callie Eaglestone (City of Leeds) and Evie Smith (Crystal Palace Diving Club) came close to winning a medal in the Women’s 3m Synchro as they finished fourth.

Their score of 230.64 was only 13.14 points behind bronze medallists Yasmin Harper (City of Sheffield) and Victoria Vincent (Plymouth Diving) who ended on 243.78.

Crystal Palace Diving Club’s Desharne Bent-Ashmeil reached the finals of the Women’s 1m and 3m Springboard competitions and was joined in the 1m Springboard final by her Crystal Palace team-mate Andrea Spendolini-Siriex.

A total of 13 divers on the Swim England Talent Programme took part in the three-day competition, at the Plymouth Life Centre, which featured the likes of Tom Daley, Jack Laugher, Grace Reid and Kat Torrance.

Bent-Ashmeil took fifth spot in the 1m Springboard final with a score of 227.70, while Spendolini-Siriex was eighth on 193.10. City of Leeds’ Torrance claimed the gold (258.40).

And Bent-Ashmeil was seventh in the 3m Springboard final, finishing above Dive London’s Reid (236.80), with a score of 238.65.

City of Sheffield’s Millie Fowler won the 3m gold with a score of 302.20.

Encouraging signs

Suzie Collins, Swim England Talent Development Officer for diving, said: “It was fantastic to see Desharne and Andrea reach finals in events that had extremely strong fields.

“Our current juniors performed so well amongst the senior divers, many of whom had progressed through the talent pathway in previous years.

“Events like this give our athletes the opportunity to learn from the best and gives them an insight of what to expect in the future.

“There are some very encouraging signs and everyone on our pathway who took part will have gained valuable experience.”

The Team Y athletes will be back in Plymouth for a training camp later this month.

Suzie added: “We will review what they learnt from their experience at the British National Diving Cup and how we can use this to help them progress through the season.

“Our camp is running alongside the British Diving Camp and gives our England talent athletes the chance top train alongside those divers who have progressed through the England talent pathway and made it on to British teams.”

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