DIVING YOUNGSTERS EXCEL IN AACHEN
Four young British divers excelled at the International Talent
Cup in Aachen to collect an impressive 11 medals in total
on their first major international outing.
The small squad of Joanna Matthews, Jessica McIlroy, Harry
Gower (all Luton Kingfisher) and Louise Moran (City of Leeds),
all part of British Diving's Junior Talent Programme, performed
outstandingly with the youngest diver, nine-year-old Matthews,
collecting two individual gold and a silver against athletes
up to two years her senior.
Matthews also partnered club mate McIlroy in the 3m Synchro
to finish with 199.08 points and take silver in the under-13
competition. McIlroy, who has just returned from a wrist injury
that left her only two weeks to prepare for competition, celebrated
medals in all three of her individual events, winning silvers
in the 1m and 3m Springboard and a bronze on the Platform.
Former gymnast Moran completed a clean sweep for the Brits
in both the girls' 3m and Platform events, taking bronze and
silver respectively, while 12-year-old Gower competed in the
boys under-13 events and came away with silver in the 3m Springboard
and bronze on the Platform.
Junior Talent Programme Manager for British Diving Julian
Bellan was delighted with his young athletes' performances.
"I'm very pleased with the results in Aachen,"
he said. "They are even more impressive given the big
turnout by competitors from all over Europe.
"All four divers are very young and raw and it's nice
to see them competing well outside of their usual environment
and step up to the mark. The experience will also stand them
in good stead for the future as a lot of top junior competitions
are hosted in Aachen and they will be familiar with the environment.
"On the Junior Talent Programme, it's all about team
work and we work with the home programme coaches to identify
and prioritise areas for training and ways to get more out
of the athletes. The results this weekend obviously show we're
on the right track."
|
