A squad of 24 of the younger members of Plymouth Diving Sponsored by Pilkington Estates
ventured to Southampton to embark on their new competition season in the Peter Waterfield
Skills competition. The squad included 12 of the national finals squad from the previous season
and 10 debutants. Before the competition started the divers presented one of the coaches; Josh
Freeman a leaving card as this was going to be his last competition before embarking on a career
within the Royal Navy and will be sadly missed by all at Plymouth Diving.
The E categories started the event off in front of a large vocal crowd with 9 Plymouth Diving
competitors being involved. The girl’s event was hotly contested with dives being of the highest
calibre and the lead changing many times. When the dust had settled Phoebe-Mae Evans of
Plymouth Diving came out on top with gold producing some lovely dives from the poolside section
especially. Ivy-May Davey also finished on the podium with 3rd place bronze. Finishing in the top
10 was Honor-Grace Kelly in 6 th place, her highest finish to date, Lyra Johnson 8 th place on debut
with an impressive 240.95 points and Bethany Hockaday in 9 th with 238.70. Also, in E girls
debutantes Lacey-May Hocking finished in 14 th place on 222.40, Myia Lilley in 16 th place on 221.85
and Charleigh Sharpe in 21 st place on 184.85. Brilliant scores from all 8 of the Plymouth Diving girl
competitors and they will take a lot of confidence moving forward to the next competitions in the
new year.
E boys had 1 Plymouth Diving competitor and another debutant Bobby Cole who showed great
skill on the boards to produce a strong 4 th placed finish with a score of 229.55 and that will give
him great confidence moving forward.
After the medal ceremony from the session before it was time for the D category girls and boys to
take to the board and just like the first session the Plymouth divers were made up of national
finalists and debutants. The standard of diving was very high and the lead changed on several
occasions, almost a carbon copy of the first session. Once again it was a Plymouth diver that
reached the top at the end with Rae Mossford being crowned with the gold medal excelling on
each of the 1m and 3m boards with some extremely impressive scoring. Like the first session
Plymouth Diving had 2 people on the podium with Isabella Stringer finding herself in 3 rd place with
a score of 269.15 from her twelve dives. Also inside the top 10 was Margot Elliot in 7 th place on
260.65 and Emily Williams in 9 th place scoring 253.85 her personal best placed finish. Finishing
inside the top 20 in the D category were Imogen-Rose Hockings in 14 th place with the score of
243.80, Lottie Tucker 17 th scoring 241.10 and Aneya Burton on her competitive debut with a score
of 238.05 and a 19 th place finish. There were also very well-placed finishes for Ivy dart in 22 nd with
231.05 and another making their first foray into a diving competition Grace Norsworthy in 24 th
position and a score of 226.30.
In the boys D category section were 2 divers making their debuts for Plymouth Diving in the shape
of Noah Lees and Daniel Robinson. Both boys showed great composure in their 12 dives, not being
flustered against some divers who had previous competition experience, which will stand them in
goodsted for future competitions. Noah Lees finished in 5 th place with a score of 223.45 and Daniel
Robinson in 6 th place with a score of 218.45.
As the day went on it was C boys and girls to try and replicate what had happened earlier in the
day and in the boys’ section that is exactly what happened with Alex Jones taking the gold to go
alongside with his national skills title he won back in July, with a score of 275.55 and his 3m dives
scoring a particular highlight from his 12 dives.
C girls were represented by Eva Tsianavas and Abi Bishop. Both girls performed admirably during
their dives in a very strong and competitive field with diving of the highest quality on show. In the
end Eva finished with a top 10 finish in 9 th place on 257.85 and Abi Bishop ending her 12 dives in
12 th place with 247.05 points.
As the day entered the final session with B girls to go onto the boards, it was finally time for the
final Plymouth Diving debut Evie Royal. Entering a competition without any other teammates in
the same category can be a scary one, but it didn't faze her in the slightest producing some really
consistent dives on each of the boards. She finished with a very credible 6 th place finishing on
284.85 points.
Overall Plymouth Diving finished the day with 3 golds, 2 bronzes and 5 other medals for their top 6
finishes. Plymouth Diving would like to thank the two coaches Tommy Davis and Josh Freeman for
taking their time to coach the youngsters in what was for many of them their first competition.
With the continued support from Plymouth Active and Pilkington Estates the future at Plymouth
Diving looks golden.
