Luton Diving Club took a team of 6 divers up to Leeds to compete in the G-Star competition. The competition took place at the John Charles Centre of Sport, which is home to some of the country’s top divers.
Katherine Kerr, Katie Cripps, Grace Kouset, and Georgie Phillips were the girls diving for Luton. Katherine and Katie, who are both group D divers, began their competition on 1m, where Katherine quickly settled in to the competition performing 6 solid dives, placing her in 1st going into the final. Katie started of with some excellent dives, and despite some very consistent diving she finished in 15th place in the preliminary round. In the 1m final, the competition was close with Katherine fighting to hold onto the top spot, and despite some excellent diving she finished in 5th with a score of 81.70. On the 3m springboard, Katherine was once again pulling out all the stops in order to earn a place in the final, with her reverse dive scoring 6.5 and 7 from all judges. With some excellent diving, Katherine once again qualified for the final in 1st place with a score of 196.20. Katie was eager to improve upon her performance on 1m, and with some very impressive diving finished in 9th place, narrowly missing out on a place in the final with score of 164.45. In the 3m final Katherine was determined to medal, and with her second dive, reverse 1 ½ somersaults, scoring 39.00 she managed to secure herself the silver medal with a score of 96.65. Katherine and Katie finished their competition on 5m platform, and were both determined to make it through to the final. Katie narrowly missed out on a place in the final despite some excellent dives, finishing in 7th place with a score of 152.15. Katherine had a very strong start scoring 34.00 for her forward 1 ½ somersaults, and continued to impress finishing with a score of 190.00 placing her in 1st going into the final. Katherine faced some tough competition in the final, and although she dived well, she finished in 4th place with a score of 89.60.
Grace Kouset, a group C diver, found herself up against 34 divers on 1m. Regardless of this she got her competition of to a great start scoring 31.45 on her first dive, forward 1 ½ somersaults, and despite landing short in her back 1 ½ she managed to finish 19th with an overall score of 158.85. On 3m springboard Grace was determined to improve upon her 1m performance with some more solid diving, and managed to impress with her forward 2 ½ receiving 6.5 and 7 from the judges, scoring 42.90 for the dive. She managed to move her way up the score board finishing in 17th place with an overall score of 174.85. Platform saw Grace up her game and with some excellent diving, including her inward 1 ½ which scored 43.20, she held her own in a large group and finished in 11th place with an overall score of 188.25.
Georgie Phillips also faced a large group of competitors in group B, but did not let this faze her on 1m as she produced 6 very consistent solid dives, placing her in 24th with an overall score of 150.20. Georgie began her competition on 3m with an excellent back dive scoring 6’s across the board. She continued to dive well throughout despite some tough competition, and finished in 22nd with an overall score of 137.60.
Oliver Simpson, Henry Biggs and Elliot Browne were the boys diving for Luton, and much like the girls they managed to hold their own against some tough competitors. Oliver was competing in group D and despite a few nerves on 1m he managed to finish in 16th with a score of 120.80. On 3m springboard Ollie was not letting his nerves affect him, producing some outstanding dives, including his back 1 ½ somersaults ½ twist which scored 40.00, and aided in his 4th place finish putting him through to the final. The final saw all the competitors fight it out for a medal, and despite some solid dives Ollie finished in 5th with an overall score of 91.70. Determined to medal on 5m Ollie once again managed to secure his place in the Final with some excellent dives, placing him in 5th with an overall score of 180.15. The competition was turned up a notch in the 5m final, with Ollie scoring 39.60 for his inward 1 ½, and placing 6th overall with a score of 99.15.
Group B saw Henry Biggs diving for Luton alongside some strong competitors. Henry gave a strong performance on 1m, scoring 44.40 on his forward 2 ½, and only narrowly missed out on a place in the final finishing in 7th with and overall score of 201.85. Henry picked up the pace on 3m springboard, scoring 47.25 for his inward 2 ½ helping him to finish in 5th and securing his place in the final. With some very impressive diving in the final, Henry managed to push his way up the score board and finish in 4th place with an overall score of 129.95. On platform the standard of competition was high, but Henry held his own producing some excellent dives, and qualified for the final in 4th place with a score of 217.70. The final saw Henry fired up, with his back 1 ½ somersault ½ twist scoring 7’s and a 7.5, and his front 2 ½ receiving 7’s to score 50.40. An impressive performance saw Henry finish in 4th place with an overall score of 124.20.
Elliott Browne, the eldest of the divers, competed in the men’s A+ platform competition and faced some very skilled divers. He produced some superb dives, proving he was not out of place amongst experienced divers , receiving 6’s and 7’s for his forward 3 ½ to score 53.20. Elliott continued to dive well throughout the competition, and finished in 10th place with an overall score of 211.17.
Congratulations to all the divers who competed at G-star. Dave and Chelsey are impressed with the amount of effort put in by the divers both in training, and at the competition, and are pleased with Luton Diving Clubs 6th place finish in the team points. Back to training now, with the focus being on improving any weaknesses in order to prepare for Regional and National Age Groups.
