SILVER FOR BRITS ON DAY ONE IN OZ
Callum Johnstone and Charles Calvert took silver for Great
Britain as a squad of seven divers battle it out against some
of the strongest nations in diving at the Australian Youth
Olympic Festival (AYOF) in Sydney.
The City of Leeds pairing put in a fantastic performance
in the 3m Synchro, putting the Chinese divers Qin Tian and
Yu Longji under enormous pressure until the final dive that
gave China the gold medal. They took the silver with a total
of 292.20 points.
Junior Olympic Programme Manager Kim White was pleased with
the performance of young divers.
"Callum and Charles are ranked third and fourth in Europe
and the World respectively as 3m Synchro divers" he said.
"They are competing in the 18 and under group, and they
are both only 16. They pushed the Chinese divers all the way
and really made them raise their game to take the gold medal."
Also competing today was Plymouth Diving's Tonia Couch.
As the most experienced diver in the British squad, Couch
was unlucky not to take bronze in the girls 10m Platform.
She finished in fourth position with 437.65 points behind
two Chinese divers, Jaing Lishuang and Liu Herui, with the
bronze medal going to the Chinese-Australian Mellisa Wu.
Also competing in the girls 10m Platform was Suzanne Collins
(City of Leeds). She finished in sixth place with 392.70 points.
Callum Johnstone finished in sixth place in the boys 3m Springboard
with 463.10 points with synchro partner Charles Calvert finishing
in eighth place with 446.05 points.
The top six finishes for Couch, Collins and Johnstone sees
them qualify for extra events to be held on Sunday.
The top six in each individual event are invited to compete
in a knockout competition. Each round will see the diver with
the lowest score eliminated until the medals are decided.
Every diver secretly nominates a dive to perform every round.
Tomorrow sees the much-anticipated first event for 12-year-old
Plymouth diver Thomas Daley.
Daley received a special dispensation to dive against athletes
three years his senior. He will be taking part in the 10m
Platform - the first event of tomorrow's competition.
The British contingent will gain valuable experience from
the multi-sport event.
It designed to replicate a major international event. The
squad are potential 2012 hopefuls and events such as this
will aid them in the transition to senior international competition.
The divers form part of a 113-strong British Olympic Association
(BOA) team comprising athletes from twelve different sports.
Diving is the only aquatic sport in the multi-discipline competition,
which includes hockey, rowing and figure skating among others.
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