The John Charles Aquatic Centre in Leeds played host to six clubs from the north east for Legs 1 and 2 of the Syd Boothroyd North East Region Diving Championships on 18th and 19th January 2020. The event also incorporated the Yorkshire Swimming Association Championships and the Northumberland and Durham Counties Swimming Association Championships. A busy weekend saw 33 NER titles up for grabs, with divers from the top elite echelon, junior elites and national age groups competing fiercely for their share of the medals.
Sheffield Diving Club made an immediate impact on Leg 1, with their divers winning gold in the first ten events and taking 22 of the first 30 medals available. On the podium for the Men’s Open 1m event were Jordan Houlden and Ross Haslam of Sheffield in 1st and 2nd places respectively, with Anthony Harding of Leeds taking the bronze position. In the Women’s Open 1m competition, Yasmin Harper of Sheffield won gold, with teammates Richelle Houlden taking silver and Holly May Prasanto the bronze. The A Girls Platform event saw Sheffield’s Charis Bell win gold, with teammate Millie Rose Hartley winning silver and Lara Bradley of Bradford taking bronze. The corresponding Boys’ event was well won by Declan Rogan of Sheffield, 92 points ahead of teammate David Craven in silver position, with Archie Read of Leeds winning bronze. David Buckley of Sunderland came in fourth and won a Northumberland & Durham region gold medal.
Next was the turn of the youngest divers, in the E2/D category, diving from the 3m springboard. The girl’s event was won by Hannah Gowan of Sheffield, with Kate Gardner of Leeds coming in second for silver and the bronze going to Sheffield’s Daisy Lindsay. For the boys, Sheffield divers Sebastian Willcox won gold, Simeon Greig silver and Robert Wood bronze. The B group then took to the platform; Katie Garner and Hannah Blake of Sheffield winning gold and silver respectively in the girls’ event with Beatrice Hargreaves of Leeds taking the bronze, while for the boys, Sheffield’s Arthur Turner-Rowe won gold, 48 points ahead of Owen Taylor of Bradford in silver, with Elliott Haigh of Leeds winning bronze.
The platform was in use again for the Men’s Open competition, resulting in Harrison Hartley of Sheffield winning gold, Joe Stocking of Leeds taking silver place and Sheffield’s Isaac Trueman-Marsden finishing with the bronze. In the C group 3m contest, Sheffield had a clean sweep on the podium with Etta Dodsworth winning gold, Sophie Mae Hancox silver and Chloe Strutt bronze. Diving for Sunderland, Heather Brennan won a Northumberland and Durham region gold medal. In the boys’ event, the gold medal went to Joseph Verity of Bradford, silver to Archie Biggin of Sheffield and bronze to Noah Bartle, also of Sheffield.
The final individual competitions of the day were the Womens’ Open Platform and the A group 1m. In the Women’s event, gold was won by Chloe Johnson of Leeds, helped by what would turn out to be the highest scoring women’s dive of the tournament, a reverse 2½ somersaults with tuck from 10m that scored 74.20. Silver went to Maisie Bond of Sheffield, with her teammate Lucy Hawkins taking bronze.  In the A Girls 1m event, gold went to Lara Bradley of Bradford, silver to Millie Rose Hartley of Sheffield and bronze to Abby Cass of Sunderland (also winning Northumberland and Durham region gold), meaning that Alice Prescott of Sheffield, in 4th place, picked up the Yorkshire region bronze medal. In the boys’ contest, everyone won a medal of one sort or another. Gold went to James Richardson of Sunderland, also winning Northumberland and Durham gold, so NER silver and Yorkshire gold went to Ethan Chapman of Sheffield, NER bronze and Yorkshire silver went to David Craven of Sheffield, Yorkshire bronze went to Archie Read of Leeds, with David Buckley and Cameron Watt of Sunderland took joint Northumberland and Durham silver.
The day ended entertainingly with the Open Platform Synchro competition. The only competitors, three Sheffield divers, decided to try various partnership combinations, with the result that Oscar Willcox and Lewis Neilson won the gold medal, Neilson took silver partnered with Theo Wellington, and the combination of Wellington and Willcox finished with bronze.
Leg 2 began with the E2/D group tackling the platform. The medals were allocated identically to the previous day on 3m, with Hannah Gowan and Daisy Lindsay of Sheffield taking gold and bronze respectively, silver being won by Kate Gardner of Leeds. For the boys, the Sheffield trio of Sebastian Willcox, Simeon Greig and Robert Wood came in 1st, 2nd and 3rd again. Next was the B group on 1m. For the girls, Sheffield’s Katie Garner won her second gold, with Beatrice Hargreaves of Leeds moving up to silver and Hannah Blake of Sheffield taking bronze. In the boys’ event, Arthur Turner-Rowe of Sheffield won his second gold medal, with Owen Taylor of Bradford also taking his second silver and Oscar Groundwater of Harrogate winning bronze. Coming in 4th place, Thane Holden-Dalby of Darlington won Northumberland and Durham gold.
Leeds were to dominate the Men’s and Women’s Open 3m events, taking four of the six medals available. For the women, Callie Eaglestone won gold and Chloe Johnson bronze, with Sheffield’s Holly May Prasanto taking the silver medal. For the men, the top two were Anthony Harding and Jake Passmore, whilst Joseph Pashley of Sheffield picked up the bronze. Harding’s was the performance of the weekend, winning by a margin of 123 points helped by a forward 4½ somersaults in tuck that scored 85.50.   In the A Girls 3m competition, Lara Bradley won her second gold medal, Alice Prescott won silver and Millie Rose Hartley took bronze, her third medal of the tournament. Abby Cass of Sunderland came in 4th and won a Northumberland and Durham gold medal. In the corresponding boys’ event, Sheffield’s Declan Rogan won his second gold of the meet, Ethan Chapman (Sheffield) his second silver and Cameron Watt of Sunderland took bronze and Northumberland and Durham gold. David Craven of Sheffield, in 4th place, won Yorkshire bronze and 5th place David Buckley of Sunderland took Northumberland and Durham silver.
Onto the C group Platform competitions, and the girls’ event saw Sheffield divers Jessica Ireland, Etta Dodsworth and Sophie Mae Hancox win gold, silver and bronze respectively. In the boys’ contest, Archie Biggin of Sheffield won gold, teammate Noah Bartle won silver and Bradford’s Joseph Verity took the bronze. In the B Girls 3m event, Sheffield’s Hannah Blake won the gold medal, with Beatrice Hargreaves winning silver and Katie Garner bronze – all three divers taking home three medals apiece. In the B Boys 3m, Bradford’s Owen Taylor and Sheffield’s Arthur Turner-Rowe each won their third medals of the meet, with Taylor winning gold and Turner-Rowe silver. Oscar Groundwater took the bronze, whilst Thane Holden-Dalby, coming in 4th, won a second Northumberland and Durham gold medal.
Next up were the E2/D group on 1m. The girls’ event saw Sheffield’s Hannah Gowan complete an impressive, dominant performance with her third gold medal, with teammate Daisy Lindsay winning silver and Kate Gardner taking bronze. The boys had a change round, with Simeon Greig coming out on top, Robert Wood winning silver and Sebastian Willcox bronze. All six divers in this age group were each taking three medals home. In the C Grils 1m competitiomn, Chloe Strutt of Sheffield won gold, Amy Wright of Leeds won silver and Sheffield’s Rebecca Vega came awy with the bronze. Sunderland’s Heather Brennan came in 9th and won a Northumberland and Durham gold medal. In the C Boys 1m, a third medal and second gold was won by Leeds diver Joseph Verity, silver went to Archie Biggin of Sheffield, also his third medal, and Miles Tiernan of Harrogate won bronze.
Finally, there were the synchro events to enjoy. Sheffield’s Arthur Turner-Rowe and Elliott Dillon took part in the Men’s Open 3m Synchro competition. Diving unopposed, they nevertheless achieved a very respectable score of 279.69, which would have won the title in last month’s more heavily contested equivalent event at the Scottish Nationals. It was gold for the pair, bringing Turner-Rowe’s tally to three golds and a silver over the course of the tournament.
Three pairs took part in the Mixed 3m Synchro contest. The Leeds pairing of Elizabeth Powley and Jake Passmore were the winners, with Cameron Watt and Abby Cass of Sunderland coming in second, to also take a Northumberland and Durham gold. Third were Lochlan Gibbons and Libby-Eliza Mitson of Leeds, winning NER bronze and Yorkshire silver.
Two other awards were presented during the weekend.
The Henry Dixon Trophy is awarded to Yorkshire’s most successful athlete across all aquatics disciplines and, having once again achieved LEN European Diver of the Year, this year’s recipient was Leeds diver Jack Laugher.
The other presentation was to the Northumberland and Durham County Swimming Association Diver of the Year, which this year went to Cameron Watt of Sunderland City Dive Team.
The final medals tables are as follows:
North East Region medals
| Club | G | S | B | Total |
| City of Sheffield Diving Club | 23 | 22 | 18 | = 63 |
| City of Leeds Diving Club | 4 | 7 | 7 | = 18 |
| City of Bradford Esprit | 5 | 2 | 2 | = 9 |
| Sunderland City Dive Team | 1 | 1 | 2 | = 4 |
| Harrogate District Diving Club | 3 | = 3 | ||
| TOTAL | 33 | 32 | 32 | = 97 |
Northumberland and Durham medals
| Club | G | S | B | Total |
| Sunderland City Dive Team | 8 | 2 | = 10 | |
| Darlington ASC | 2 | = 2 | ||
| TOTAL | 10 | 2 | = 12 |
Yorkshire medals
| Club | G | S | B | Total |
| City of Sheffield Diving Club | 24 | 22 | 19 | = 65 |
| City of Leeds Diving Club | 4 | 8 | 7 | = 19 |
| City of Bradford Esprit | 5 | 2 | 2 | = 9 |
| Harrogate District Diving Club | 3 | = 3 | ||
| TOTAL | 33 | 32 | 31 | = 96 |
Enormous thanks must go to the large team of dedicated volunteers, without whom such events would not be possible.
