FOUR of Southampton Diving Academy’s top juniors have represented their country in Italy at two international championships.
Gemma McArthur, Madeleine Angel, Brandon Foster and Emily Martin were selected for England following their excellent performances at the National Junior Elite Championships.
McArthur made her GB debut at the Junior European Championships in Bergamo and competed in the girls 16/18 platform event.
She finished fourth in the preliminaries, concluding with an outstanding inward three and half somersaults tucked recording a score of 354.60, and then finished seventh overall.
Southampton’s other three divers were part of the England team that travelled to Rome. Diving in the girls 14/15 years, Angel was uncatchable in her platform event, achieving a personal best score and winning gold by a 33-point margin.
She also won bronze in her 1m springboard event.
Martin, competing in the girls 12/13 years platform, also claimed a bronze medal after finishing with a personal best score. Martin was also fifth with another personal best score in her 1m springboard competition and claimed the ‘female highest scoring dive of the meet’ award for her 60.45 point dive on platform.
Foster finished fourth in the boys 12/13 years platform, an agonising 0.55 of a point from the bronze – despite scoring 8’s for his incredible handstand dive.
Foster also recorded a personal best score on the 3m board.
Martin and Foster have also secured places on British Diving’s England Talent Programme 2014/15.
The pair have been invited to Leeds along with 20 other junior elite divers from across the UK.
The duo will attend a weekend of pool and gym assessments.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here