The end of April proved to be busy with competitions for three Plymouth divers. Our junior divers Amelie Underwood and Ollie Heath headed off to Dresden in Germany for the 11th Youth International Meet. Sally Freeman also from Plymouth Diving joined them as the Head Coach for the meet.
Group A1 divers Underwood and Heath made their debut for GBR at this competition last year. Both divers were selected for the Mixed Team Event and joined Hannah Newbrook from Dive London and Robbie Wood from City of Sheffield Diving. The quartet proved to be a good choice and complemented each other to secure the silver medal.
The individual rounds for Underwood and Heath were always going to be a challenge. Being the youngest in their category with a three year spread of ages and a lot less experience than the A3 divers. However, undaunted they absolutely gave it their best which was reflected in the results. Ollie finished the 3m preliminary event in 10th position out of 33. Upping his finish position to 8th in the final with a massive score of 501 points. Heath was not as well prepared for the 1m board because he had to step in to replace a fellow team mate at the last moment. Nonetheless he finished a respectable 16th out of 28 and got to trial some new dives.
Underwood had a very busy competition competing in four events. Caitlyn Coster from Dive London joined Underwood for the 3m synchro. Unfortunately Underwood struck her foot on the board on one of the dives and the pair finished in 8th position. Nursing a painful foot did not prevent her from qualifying in 12th position out of 35 to reach the 1m final. Delivering a confident set of final dives she finished in 9th place as the highest GBR contestant. The final day for Underwood was impressive. Into the 3m final with relative ease after finishing 4th out of 32. With a battle between four divers for the bronze medal Underwood just missed out in 5th by a shortfall of 1.05 points.
Meanwhile across the pond Euan McCabe was competing in the American Cup held in Indianapolis. Pairing up with Ben Cutmore from Dive London for the 10m synchro the duo were unbeatable. Performing the hardest dive list with the only forward 4 ½ somersault tuck in play they rightfully took the gold medal. McCabe also put in a sterling effort in the 10m individual round. Finishing in 7th position would have got him into the final if it had not been for the fact that only two GBR divers could qualify.
All three divers are coached by Sally at the Life Centre which has excellent diving facilities. The club is supported by Plymouth Active Leisure and Pilkington Estates.
