Swim England National Age Group Championships 2022
Despite not running due to the disruption of Covid for the past 2 years the Swim England National Age Group Championships 2022 has been a high standard event. With Albatross divers achieving strong performances, medals and PB’s. We share with you some of the highlights.
The Albatross National Age Group Team arrived at the Plymouth Life Centre for the 2022 Swim England Diving National Age Group Championships. We welcomed new member Naya, who is joining us from DuDive. The event started well for the club. Hernan and Harry, in a closely fought event, secured a silver podium position in Boys A/B 3m Synchro on the first afternoon. Many well deserved congratulations to you both 🥈 🥈
Albatross Dive Team
Day 2 of the Swim England National Age Group Championships saw all the Albatross team in action. Meah was up first on 3m putting in a consistent set of dives to finish 14th in one of the longest events of the day in a field of 31 divers.
Our Group A girls, Molly and Maya, too put in strong performances finishing 5th and 7th respectively on the 1m and Fin, diving simultaneously on 3m, was 6th. Naya, in her first event with the club and having only arrived in the UK 2 days ago, made the nationals step up from Skills in 2019 to Age Groups on 1m working hard on her new list in another long event.
In arguably the most tense event of the day, Joe, Harry and Hernan faced opposition from experienced Group A divers, all fighting closely dive on dive for the podium positions on 3m. Joe was 6th with some great twisting dives while Harry was 4th with a massive personal best. Hernan, however, triumphed clinching gold by the slimmest of margins, to take the top podium spot. Huge smiles and cheers all round for this steadfast and supportive team of divers.
Day 3
All the divers again put in some lovely dives on Day 3. Naya was again up first in the morning slot on 3m. She was followed by Meah on platform, who coped brilliantly in a long event to finish on a strong 105B. The older girls and boys dived simultaneously to close the day on 3m and 1m. Molly performed her best ever 3m to finish 5th and Maya showing consistently high scoring dives to secure second.
Some high scoring dives were being displayed across the competitors in the boys 1m. Joe scored well finishing 6th as Hernan and Harry battled it out for the top spots finishing first and second respectively. In a quote from coach Chris, which is shared by us all, “So great to see these athletes, who I’ve known for years, getting the results they deserve”.
Finlay had the early start on the final day finishing in 5th on 1m. This was followed by Naya on platform who seems to have settled well into her new team, and will start training with them from next week. Meah too finished her nationals on the 1m in a mid table position from 29 divers. In the penultimate event of the day the older girls, Molly and Maya, took to the platforms and shone, taking silver and bronze podium positions respectively. Harry then followed this, in his last competition as a junior diver, by taking the gold medal, also on platform with Joe in 5th and Hernan in 7th.
Proud
It should be noted for all our platform performances that Albatross only trains on highboard for 2 hours a month in Southampton, making these performances all the more impressive. Head Coach, Malcolm, said “this competition, like the elites earlier this year, shows what can be achieved by Albatross with limited facilities and training time. The performances are a credit to the dedication and resilience of divers, their families and coaches, we are very proud”.
