Up-and-coming divers shine at annual Talent Games

A ‘thrilling’ Swim England Diving Talent Games event took place at the weekend with young divers from across the country coming face-to-face in national competition.

47 divers from nine clubs took part in the event which was held at the John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds from 4-5 November.

Competitors took part in a variety of dryland and pool-based events that are designed to challenge the divers all-round ability.

The event is also a selection meet where the best youngsters will be invited to join Swim England Diving’s Team Z squad – the first step on the national talent pathway.

There was an array of young talent on display with divers aged 11 years and under competing on the 1m and 3m boards as well as on dryland.

The competition concluded with the Games’ unique knockout event where the top eight divers from each board took on four dives with two divers knocked out each round – simulating the pressure of a competition environment.

Overall, the home club came out on top with Leeds leading the standings ahead of City of Sheffield and Southampton Diving Academy – who rounded out the top three.

Leeds’ total score was 1070.63 after they led the Open/Male rankings and were second overall for the Female events.

‘A special competition’

Dive London topped the Female table partly in thanks to the performances of Alice Morskyj who won both the Female D dryland and pool events as well as the 1m Springboard and 3m Platform knockout competitions.

City of Leeds duo Brogann Gainfort and Flo Hall led the way in the Open/Male D and Female E events with Southend’s Beau Barry edging out club mate Blake Scroxton to take gold in the Open/Male E category.

Star’s Libby Edelson also stood out after her victory in the 3m Springboard knockout competition.

Connie Ford, Swim England’s diving programme lead, believes that the weekend’s event was a great success.

She said: “It was great to see the young talent of the sport back in the pool competing at the Talent Games.

“It’s a special competition which is different to any other, allowing friends and family to observe the physical competition and acrobatic skills.

“The talent on display was inspiring and it was incredible to see the young divers experience the buzz of competition.

“Thank you to all the clubs, divers and our incredible volunteers for supporting the event and we can’t wait to watch these divers develop further in the future.”

You can find all the results from the event here and the newest members to the Team Z squad will be released in due course.