12th July 2011
Historic Synchro Diving Medal for Irish Divers at the British Gas ASA National Age Group Championships in Sheffield

Ten young Irish divers made a splash this weekend at a top British competition, coming home with a string of medals and a series of personal bests.

Six young divers from the Shamrock Diving Club and four from the Dublin Diving Club, both of which are based at the National Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown, competed against a high-quality field in the British Gas ASA National Age Group Championships in Sheffield over four days July 7th to 10th.

The biggest Irish team ever to take part at a UK national age group level netted a haul of four bronze medals, including the first ever podium finish for Irish synchro divers. The impressive performance by our six girls and four boys clearly demonstrate how far diving has come in this country.

“This was an excellent result for Irish diving and demonstrates how far the sport has come in the last year” said Sonya Kerr, coach who travelled with the team for the competition at the Ponds Forge arena, which was attended by 200 young divers from across Britain and Ireland.

Leading the Irish charge were Sean McCormack from Rathfarnham and Jack Ffrench, from Maynooth. The two 15-years-olds, who are members of Shamrock Diving Club (SDC), tasted individual success but the dive partners also won a historic bronze for their synchro performance for ages 14 to 18.
McCormack scored a bronze for his performance in the Boys Group A Platform competition while Ffrench also had a prestigious third-place finish in the Boys Group B three-metre springboard event.
Their achievements were followed not far behind by the rest of the Irish team, some of who were competing for the first time at this level.

Tony Miller (SDC), from Finglas, had two 13th place finishes against a strong field finishing less than five points outside the top ten, marking an impressive debut for the 11-year-old at age-group level. Meanwhile, Jack Price (SDC), from Leixlip, finished in 15th place in the Platform competition, again on the 11-year-old’s debut attempt.
Fionn Nolan (Dublin Diving Club - DDC) also competed in his first age group competition, achieving a personal best on the one-metre springboard and finished in a creditable 10th place.
In Girls Group B, Vivienne Hew (DDC) and Roisin Kane (SDC) both scored personal bests with Roisin finishing in 8th place in the platform competition.

In Girls Group C, Natasha MacManus (DDC) just missed out on a number of medals, finishing in 5th place on the three-metre springboard and platform. Having led for most of the one-metre competition, Natasha finished in 4th place, just 0.15 of a point off a podium finish. Seanagh Carton (SDC), again at her debut UK age-group competition, achieved personal bests on 1 metre and platform.

In Girls Group A, Francesca Hew (DDC) finished just outside the top ten in 11th place having overcome a failed dive in her one-metre springboard competition.

In the synchro competitions, Jack Price and Tony Miller got off to a flying start in their first performance at this level in the 8 to 13 age group. Jack and Tony claimed eighth place and demonstrated significant potential for the future. Meanwhile, in the Girls Synchro for ages 14 to 18 sisters Vivienne and Francesca Hew also managed an 8th-place finish against a tough field.