NEW PAIRING SHINES AT NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The new pairing of Callum Johnstone and Thomas Daley showed
their true potential at the ASA Senior National Diving Championships
in Sheffield.
Diving for the first time together at a senior national competition
the pair took an early lead by gaining the first nines of
the competition. For their third dive - the reverse, two and
a half somersaults in the tuck position they achieved their
highest mark of nine and a half.
They performed consistently throughout the final to finish
as new National Champions with a score of 388.38 points.
The pair have only been diving together since the beginning
of the year and showed promise of future success with their
performance. Callum Johnstone (City of Leeds) was thrilled
to have been named National Champion.
"We are really pleased with our performance today,"
said Johnstone. "Everything went to plan and that was
great. Our first three dives were solid and it is important
to get good marks from your first three, it provides a good
grounding for the rest."
"We got a few nines and a nine and a half which was
really good. There is room for improvement but we know what
we have to do, so we can build on this performance. We have
a few competitions coming up towards the end of the year and
we will be looking to improve for them."
"Our best dive was the reverse, two and a half somersaults
tuck and we hit it hard. We both performed it well and we
got excellent marks for it. We haven't been diving together
for long but to have got the scores we did shows that we are
working well together."
Plymouth Diving's Thomas Daley added: "I'm over the
moon. The dives felt good and we really enjoyed it. Our partnership
seems quite unusual since we are such different heights but
the synchronisation is natural and it works well."
The toughest competition of the day took place in the men's
3m individual event, which saw all athletes pull out impressive
dives. Ben Swain (City of Sheffield) performed well in the
pre-lims and despite missing his reverse two and a half somersaults
pike he finished on top with a score of 356.75.
All of the divers raised their game in the final but it was
Swain that took an early lead and battled on to take the title
with a series of excellent dives including the forward two
and a half somersaults and two twists in the pike position.
He finished with 393.10 points to claim gold.
"I picked my dives up through the rounds," he said.
"I was well rested going into todays event and it felt
good. I did struggle a little in the pre-lims and I missed
my reverse dive but I think I made the improvements needed.
I dived consistently through the rounds which I was pleased
with.
"I am very happy to be National Champion, but I think
it will really sink in tomorrow. It was my aim for the weekend
so I am pleased."
Plymouth Diving's Thomas Daley claimed silver with 328.40
points and in bronze medal position was Southampton DA's Blake
Aldridge with 327.35 points.
The women's Platform event saw Stacie Powell (Southampton
DA) and Sarah Barrow (Plymouth Diving) battling it out for
top spot. The girls claimed the top two positions in the pre-lims
and the semi's.
In the final both girls started well, but Stacie took the
lead with her first two dives and despite poor scores for
her inward three and a half in pike position she continued
on to take the National title with 294.20 points.
"I am happy with how I dived today," she said.
"I worked hard and I knew I had things to improve from
the pre-lims and semi's so I made sure I did it for the final.
I could have got better scores but I am happy with what I
did. I did have good corrections.
"My best dive was the back three and a half tuck. I
got good scores for it and I felt confident with that dive.
It is great to be National Champion."
Barrow took the silver with 277.05 points and City of Leeds'
Aimee Walker took the bronze with 239.65 points.
Competing in her first Senior Nationals was City of Sheffield's
Bethany Watts, who competed well to make the finals in the
Women's Platform event and finishing with a score of 202.75.
"I think I did really well today," said Watts.
"I was really nervous when I started competing but I
think I did really well. It was my first Senior Nationals
and I didn't really know what to expect but I got good scores
and my coach is pleased."
The final day of competition kicks off at 10am with the Women's
3m event.
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