JONES TAKES ONE METRE SPRINGBOARD TITLE
Britain's top divers are taking their first steps to Beijing
as a new generation of diving talent aims to impress on the
national scene.
Four senior titles were up for grabs today at the National
Diving Championships in Manchester as well as selection to
the European Championships and World Cup squads.
Platform specialist Gareth Jones (Southampton) was the surprise
winner of the 1m Springboard event, ousting favourite Ben
Swain (City of Sheffield) from the top spot.
Jones, who qualified this morning in fourth position, put
in a solid performance to push ahead of Swain on his third
dive - an inward 2½ Somersaults, which earned him 66.65
points - the top score of the event. Jones finished first
with an overall score of 328.25 points, Swain won silver in
321.70 points and Michael Barnes of City of Leeds won bronze
with 277.15 points.
"I'm really pleased with that," said Jones. "The
springboard isn't my main event, but I always do it to relax
at the start of competition. I don't do much training on the
board, but it's good to get a break from the platform from
time to time.
"To beat Ben on his own board is really encouraging.
I've got my main event later this weekend and that performance
has set me up well."
Jones went on to partner Southampton team mate Gary Hunt
in the pair's first competition outing in the 3m Synchro and
won bronze in 322.44. City of Leeds duo Callum Johnstone and
Charles Calvert, both 15 years old, were champions with 332.16
points and Southampton pairing Gavin Brown and Blake Aldridge
won silver with 329.97 points.
Tandi Gerrard (City of Leeds) was up against Commonwealth
synchro partner Hayley Sage (City of Sheffield) in the women's
1m individual event. The diving veteran, who dropped marks
on her final dive - a forward 1½ Somersaults 2 Twists
- was able to keep ahead and win gold with 235.25 points.
Sage won silver with 228.35 points and her Sheffield team
mate Claire Blencowe won bronze with 217.05 points.
"I'm really pleased to win on the 1m and it's a nice
warm-up for the 3m event," said Gerrard. "Because
the 1m isn't considered for selection there's less pressure,
so it's a fun board to dive. I went short on my final dive
though which lowered my score.
"Since the Commonwealths I've competed in China, Canada
and the U.S., so I haven't had much time to get back into
training at home."
In the final event of the evening, Plymouth's Tonia Couch
partnered Stacie Powell of Southampton to victory in the women's
Platform Synchro where the duo finished clear leaders with
284.16 points. Suzanne Collins (City of Leeds) and Brooke
Graddon (Plymouth Diving) won silver with 264.63 points.
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