Captions: City of Leeds divers Jack Laugher (top) and Alicia Blagg will represent Great Britain at the world championships next month (images courtesy of Tim Lee, City of Leeds Diving Club (Jack)and SWpix.com (Alicia)- if used pleased credit)
The City of Leeds diving squad are celebrating after having six members named to represent Team Great Britain at the world championships in China next month.
The team was announced this week with City of Leeds divers making up over half the Great Britain squad for the FINA World Championships which take place in Shanghai from 16-31 July.
City of Leeds divers Jack Laugher, Sarah Barrow, Alicia Blagg, Jenny Cowen, Rebecca Gallantree and Hannah Starling are all part of the 11-strong Team GB squad to have successfully qualified to take on the best in the world in the biggest international diving event of the year.
The squad was finalised following last week’s British Gas National Diving Championships, where the City of Leeds divers dominated in their home pool at the Aquatics Centre at the John Charles Centre for Sport claiming 16 medals as well as the overall men’s and women’s trophies.
Olympian Rebecca Gallantree led the way, claiming two gold medals and a silver to secure her spot at Shanghai in style. Rebecca will be joined in China by clubmates Jenny Cowen and Sarah Barrow, back to form after lengthy injury problems, while 14-year-old Alicia Blagg from Woodlesford and 16-year-old Hannah Starling from Alwoodley will be the two youngest members of the squad.
The women’s team claimed the overall trophy for the ninth major national event in a row, while the men’s team also scooped the overall team prize for the first time since 2004.
This was based largely on the success of 16-year-old Jack Laugher, who followed his stunning performance in beating world champion Tom Daley and setting a new British record in the process in the National Cup in February with another victory in the men’s three-metre individual event last week.
Laugher was ably supported by fellow Harrogate diver Oliver Dingley, who won the 1m individual title before the two recent newcomers to the City of Leeds squad then teamed up to take silver in the 3m synchronised event.
Other City of Leeds divers to claim medals in the national championships were Joe Meszaros who claimed his first national title with gold in the 10m men’s synchro, Chloe Hurd (two bronze), Callum Johnstone (two bronze) and Matt Roberts (bronze).
The City of Leeds divers are all part of Leeds City Council’s Diving Training Scheme overseen by senior diving coach Adrian Hinchliffe and former world champion Edwin Jongejans.
Senior diving coach Adrian Hinchliffe said:
“This is a fantastic achievement to have so many divers from one club qualify for the world championships so we are delighted and the credit must go to all six of our divers to have made it along with the coaches and everyone who supports them.
“We were particularly pleased to win the men’s overall title for the first time since 2004 as well as the women’s, so we look forward to seeing how the team perform in Shanghai and we are sure they will provide the inspiration for their clubmates in Leeds to keep improving.”
Notes to editors:
Leeds City Council’s Leeds Diving Training Scheme is managed by Adrian Hinchliffe and has been running since 1986. The scheme provides opportunities in the sport of diving for all ages and from recreational to elite level. In total there are over 300 people taking part in the scheme on a daily and weekly basis, making it one of the biggest diving programmes in Britain.
For further information about the scheme contact Adrian Hinchliffe at Adrian.hinchliffe@leeds.gov.uk, Edwin Jongejans at Edwin.jongejans@leeds.gov.uk or call 0113 395 7363.
ENDS
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