Divers from Active Nation’s Southampton Diving Academy competed against teams from around the world when they travelled to Sofia in Bulgaria for their 2015 Summer Team Trip.

This year Southampton joined forces with Albatross Dive Club Reading, and Star Diving Team Guildford to make a 21 strong squad flying the flag for the South East Region Talent Programme.

The team ranged in age from 10 to 18 years, a mix of youngsters fresh from their first National Final competition up to seasoned elites. All enjoyed a week of competition against very strong teams from Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Serbia and of course Bulgaria.

The team touched down in a hot Sofia and immediately headed to The Diana Pool for training. For all but 3 of them, it was their first international trip and the first time they had ever dived outdoors, which was not without its challenges with very cold water and quite high winds requiring serious focus – particularly whilst diving from the high platforms.

However the team of 6 young SDA divers, supported by experienced coach Jack Clewlow showed self-assurance in both training and competition and worked really hard to adjust to the different conditions.

The experience of Brandon Foster shone through, and he won the only medals for the young SDA squad at the meet, diving in the Boys B 14/15 years winning Gold in the platform event and Silver on the 3m Springboard.

Thomas Bailey, recently crowned National Age Group Champion of England on 3m Springboard, worked hard against the strong international field managing 5th place in this tough event which will prove to be a positive experience for the future.

Evelyna Johnson, National Age Group 1 metre Champion of England, competed in the Platform competition in the girls 12/13 age group, where she finished a creditable 5^th. Unfortunately, as she injured her foot during training, she wasn’t able to take part in her other events.

The 3 younger SDA divers put in some great performances with Milly Batten narrowly missing out on the medals on the 1m and the Platform, Ethan Bennett a top 6 place on the Platform and Milo French 7^th on both the 3m and the Platform.

Senior Coach Jack Clewlow said “Travelling overseas always creates an extra challenge for our divers and the other European Countries were very strong, but SDA showed great strength and team spirit.”

Girls 10/11 Years

Milly Batten: 1m 4th, 3m 7th, 5m Platform 4th

Boys 10/11 Years

Ethan Bennett: 1m 7th, 3m 8th, 5m Platform 6th

Milo French: 1m 11th, 3m 7th, 5m Platform 7th

Girls 12/13 Years

Evelyna Johnson : Platform 5th

Boys 14/15 Years

Thomas Bailey: 1m 5th, 3m 5th, Platform 4th

Brandon Foster: 1m 4th, 3m 2nd, Platform 1st

The post Young Divers Compete At Summer Team Trip To Bulgaria appeared first on Active Nation.

After a brilliant season on the slopes Toby Case is on track to achieve his goal of competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics – and has just been selected to represent Team GB in Andorra in January 2016.

13-year-old Toby from Fleet in Hampshire, has had an unbelievable season competing all around Europe and has come away as the All England Slalom Champion on snow after winning in Bormio in Italy and on the artificial slopes he is now the GBR Series Champion, Irish National Champion, European Champion, GBR Series Indoor Champion, SRSA Champion and has won various Club Nationals.

To top it all off his talent has been spotted by Snowsport England who have invited him to join the U14 England Alpine Development Squad 2015/16.

The talented skier was chosen to attend the selection weekend in Manchester, which involved fitness tests, on-snow skill-based exercises at indoor snow slope Chill Factore and strength and conditioning and nutrition sessions.

The England call up, which will see Toby represent England in dry and indoor slope races across the country, international competitions in Europe as well as at the English Alpine Ski Championships in Italy next February, comes after a series of successes on the slopes.

Toby said: “I developed my taste for skiing at the age of 5 on the dry slope at the Alpine Snowsports Centre in Aldershot, where I had visited with a friend to try out an introductory course.

“I loved it so much that I started attending regular ‘Skids’ sessions on a Saturday morning, which is where I learnt basic technical skills. Over the next 9 months I trained hard and was awarded my Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates.

“After trials at the age of 7, I was fortunate to win a place as the youngest member of the Aldershot Ski Race squad.”

And since then he hasn’t looked back. He is already regarded as one of the country’s top young stars and has achieved his first personal goal of qualifying for the England development squad. He has also got his sights on the 2018 Youth Winter Olympics, before his ultimate goal of representing his county at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Eddy Kirk from Active Nation’s Alpine Snowsports in Aldershot said: “Toby Case is a fantastic example of what can be achieved through learning and training on an artificial ski slope.

“Toby’s hard work and the support of his parents and coaches is clear to see. It just goes to show what can come from a visit to your local dry ski slope, a huge amount of talent and a lot of dedication. Well done Toby!”

To keep up with Toby’s progress follow him through his website: www.tobycase.co.uk. For more information about Alpine Snowsports in Aldershot give us a call on 01252 325889.

The post Toby Is On Track To Compete In The Olympics appeared first on Active Nation.

Active Nation’s Southampton Diving Academy recently hosted the ASA South East Regional Age Group competition at The Quays Swimming and Diving Complex.

This competition was a qualifying event for the ASA National Age Group Diving Championships to be held in Sheffield’s Ponds Forge in May. Clubs from across the South East region attended including Albatross Diving Club (Reading), Maidstone Swimming Club and Star (Guildford) alongside guest teams from Crystal Palace, Southend Diving, Waltham Forest, Haringey Aquatics, West Wilts and Dive London Aquatics Club.

The team scooped an impressive 26 South East Regional medals over the two weekends, 9 Gold, 8 silver and 9 bronze.

SDA’s head coach Lindsey Fraser said: “These results were very impressive and I would like to congratulate the coaches and divers on these performances.”

Many of the Southampton Divers were new to this level of competition; some were looking to achieve the qualification scores to progress to the National Finals and some were there for the experience of competing in a higher level event.

Taking gold on the Platform and 1m Springboard for Boys 14/15 Years was Elliott Moorhouse in a fantastic comeback after a long absence from injury. Also performing well in that age group were William Osborne, who took gold on the 3m Springboard and bronze on the 1m Springboard, and Thomas Bailey who took silver on the 1m Springboard.

In Boys 12/13 Years, Reuben Brown took silver in both the 3m and 1m Springboard and bronze on the Platform with a solid performance on all 3 boards showing consistent skills under pressure.

In Boys 10/11, Milo French, the youngest boy in the Southampton squad, impressed the judges to take silver in both the 1m and 3m Springboard and a bronze on the Platform with team mate Ethan Bennett putting in some very consistent diving to take the bronze on the 1m.

The girls’ competition was fierce in all age groups, but in the 14/15 Years group, Southampton’s Katie McArthur held her nerve to take gold on the 1m, beating team mate Serena Torpey into Silver.

In the Girls 12/13 years Tia Pritchard and Evelyna Johnson battled hard and eventually couldn’t be separated, taking joint top spot, Tia was one of the few girls in this age group to dive from the 7.5m Platform. Tia also took gold on the 3m Springboard and bronze on the 1m Springboard to complete a great all round performance. Ella Anderson and Lauren Bailey took gold and silver respectively on the 1m both of them performing risky double somersaults to secure their medals.

Meanwhile in Girls 10/11 Years, the star was Milly Batten taking gold on the 3m Springboard with a superb inward 1.5 somersault with pike securing her title. Milly also took silver on the 1m Springboard against some tough competition and bronze on the Platform. Dulcie Wilson showed great composure to take the bronze on both 1m and 3m Springboards in only her second competition at this level and is one to watch for the future as one of the youngest girls in the Southampton team.

Angus Kerr and Cameron Gammage, two of Southampton Diving Academy’s Elite divers also took part in this competition as guest divers in preparation for their National Junior Elite Championships which take place in Sheffield in May.

Girls 10/11 Years

1m  2nd Milly Batten, 3rd Dulcie Wilson, 5th Collette guyett-Smith, 7th Lucy Chandler

3m   1st Milly Batten, 3rd Dulcie Wilson, 5th Collette Guyett-Smith, 6th Lucy Chandler

Platform  3rd Milly Batten

Boys 10/11 Years

1m  2nd Milo French, 3rd Ethan Bennett, 8th Robbie Lee

3m  2nd Milo French, 5th Ethan Bennett

Platform 3rd Milo French, 7th Ethan Bennett

Girls 12/13 Years

1m 1st Ella Anderson, 2nd Lauren Bailey, 3rd Tia Pritchard, 4th Gabrielle Kirkham, 6th Sofia Sathio, 7th Victoria Ward

3m 1st Tia Pritchard, 4th Ella Anderson, 5th Victoria Ward, 6th Sofia Sathio, 7th Lauren Bailey, 8th Gabrielle Kirkham

Platform Joint 1st Evelyna Johnson and Tia Pritchard, 4th Gabrielle Kirkham, 5th Lauren Bailey, 6th Ella Anderson, 7th Chloe Harrington, 8th Victoria Ward, 9th Sofia Sathio, 10th Megan Curtis

Boys 12/13 Years

1m 2nd Reuben Brown

3m 2nd Reuben Brown

Platform 3rd Reuben Brown, 4th Alex Walton

Girls 14/15 Years

1m 1st Katie McArthur, 2nd Serena Torpey, 4th Jessica Bennett, 5th Jade Brindley, 7th Nicole van Hoof, 8th Emily Adams, 10th Victoria Kennedy, 11th Chantelle Beckett

3m 4th Katie McArthur , 5th Jessica Bennett, 6th Serena Torpey, 7th Emily Adams, 8th Nicole Van Hoof, 9th Victoria Kennedy, 10th Chantelle Beckett

Platform 5th Katie McArthur , 6th Emily Adams, 7th Victoria Kennedy

Boys 14/15 Years

1m 1st Elliot Moorhouse, 2nd Thomas Bailey, 3rd William Osborne

3m 1st  William Osborne, 3rd Thomas Bailey, 4th Elliot Moorhouse

Platform 1st  Elliot Moorhouse

The post Young Divers Put In Impressive Performances At Regional Competition appeared first on Active Nation.

An eleven strong party from Southampton Diving Academy (SDA) returned as team victors from Bergen, Norway having participated in the Internasjonalt Stupestevne diving meet.

Hosted by Bergen Stupeklubb, this event included national teams from Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Monaco and Poland as well as club divers from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, plus the UK.

With some in the Southampton team fresh from competing in the UK’s Junior Elite Championships in Plymouth, there were nine individual medals for five divers as well as their win of the overall team competition.

Notable were three ‘Elite’ divers, Max Cott (Gold Platform, with a huge 470 points, a score right up there with the top European youth, and bronze on the 1 metre board), Tanya Watson (Silver Medals on the 3 metre and platform boards) and Brandon Foster (Bronze Platform), who lived up to their known high standards.

In between the medals were some excellent performances from Lucy Watson (including 4th, platform), Rhys Crookes, Thomas Bailey, Will Osborne, Jessica Bennett and Serena Torpey who all scored personal bests and took some notable scalps throughout the meet. Their dives were consistently sound, essential in competing at this level. Director of Coaching Lindsay Fraser declared herself hugely impressed with the meet organisation, the hospitality of the people of Bergen and the maturity of her own divers.

In her second foray at this level overseas, youngest SDA diver, Evelyna Johnson performed very well especially on the one metre board taking the silver medal and beating a Swiss International diver, as well as scoring over 40 points on her inward one and a half somersault.

Cameron Gammage, age 13 years, posted a super individual SDA result with a clean sweep of three gold medals, including a personal best 8-dive score of 324 points on the 3 metre board – one point behind the meet record held by Yong Wang of China since 2003. His best dive was a forward two and one half somersault on the 5 metre platform for which he scored 53 points.

This was SDA’s first trip to Bergen, but having seen the superb organisation of the meet, the excellent facilities and the quality of the international competition it surely will not be the last!

The post Southampton Diving Academy Return As Team Victors From International Competition appeared first on Active Nation.

Active Nation’s Southampton Diving Academy (SDA) recently attended The British Elite Junior Diving Championships with 8 of their top junior divers and returned with a national champion!

This prestigious competition is the highlight of the domestic junior calendar with the top British divers aged 14-18 Years battling it out for honours. This competition not only serves to find our National Junior Elite Champions but, more importantly, it is the event used to select our Junior International Teams. This year it was held at The Life Centre in Plymouth and the standard of British Junior diving was impressive.

SDA’s Emily Martin comfortably secured the title of Girls 14/15 years British National Junior Elite Champion on 1m springboard, where she won both the preliminary and the final. Emily was on top form and demonstrated some impressive diving in a very competitive field, scoring personal best scores in all her preliminary and final events, finishing ahead of Junior GB divers to win a hat trick of medals.

Not satisfied with her 5^th place in the preliminaries on 3m, she upped her game in the final to lift herself into the silver medal position in this event. In her platform final she retained her second place from the preliminary to, again, win the silver medal, making her the top girl in her age group.

Emily has now been confirmed as part of the Junior GB team competing at a Junior International in Dresden, Germany later this month and also Junior European Championships in Moscow, Russia in June. Emily’s coach, Jack Clewlow, has also been selected as coach for the Dresden International.

Tanya Watson and Lucy Hawkins also competed on all three boards in the girls 14/15 years. Tanya scored personal best scores on all three boards and secured a place in the platform final where she finished in 6^th place. Lucy also achieved personal best scores in both springboard events, finishing her 3m competition with two fantastic dives.

Sarah White, Gemma M^cArthur and Madeleine Angell all dived in the girls 16/18 Years age group, Gemma & Madeleine secured a place in the platform final. Madeleine scored personal best scores in both the preliminary and final of this event, finishing in 5^th place, just behind teammate Gemma M^cArthur in 4^th place with Sarah in 8^th. Gemma and Sarah went on to compete in the 3m event, where Gemma finished in 7^th place just a fraction away from the finals and Sarah finished in 9^th.

Tanya Watson and Emily Martin teamed up in the Girls 14-18 years 3m Synchro, the girls executed a fantastic last dive to lift themselves into 5^th place.

Two boys represented SDA, Brandon Foster in the boys 14/15 years and Max Cott in the Boys 16/18 years. Both Brandon and Max secured their place in the platform finals where Max attracted 8’s from the judges with his impressive back two and half somersaults from 7.5m taking him into the final in 3rd place, where he was just nudged into 4^th. Brandon progressed into his platform final in 5^th place finally finishing 6^th. Brandon also competed in the boys 14/15 years 1m and 3m events making the final on 1m, finishing in 5^th place.

Jack said: “I was extremely pleased with the performance of the Southampton team. All of the divers have worked so hard in order to prepare for this event. It was a pleasure to see all of their efforts rewarded.”

Feeling inspired? Give your nearest Active Nation venue a call to see how we can help get you swimming and diving.

The post Active Nation’s SDA Diver Emily Is A National Champion! appeared first on Active Nation.

Divers from across the south of England descended upon Southampton to compete in the Peter Waterfield Novices Competition. Hosts, Southampton Diving Academy, proved that there is plenty of Southampton talent coming through by taking 18 top six places and winning 2 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals.

This event, held annually at Active Nation’s The Quays diving complex, is known as ‘Skills’ level and sees the divers aged 13 and under performing a set of 12 skills from three stations, poolside, 1m and 3m springboard, whilst divers aged 14 and above perform 10 dives from the 1m and 3m springboard. Some of these divers are just setting out on their competitive careers and this is a chance to compete against other clubs and set their benchmark whilst others aspire to move onto the next competitive level.

Nine year old Dulcie Wilson, diving in the girls 8/9 years, demonstrated her potential to be a diving starlet of the future. Achieving scores of 8 and 8.5’s Dulcie accumulated a total of 310.35 points, and with the highest overall score of the whole competition won her event by over 14 points.

The SDA Boys dominated the 12/13 Years podium. Most triumphant was Reuben Brown taking the gold medal closely followed by teammates Ashley Burnard and Alex Walton in silver and bronze respectively.

In the boys 8/9 Years, Milo French and Leon Baker battled it out for silverware, Milo eventually taking the silver medal and Leon the Bronze, both boys scored a 9 for their poolside forward jump pike.

Sofia Sathio also enjoyed a successful outing, achieving many scores of 8, she took the bronze medal in the girls 12/13 Years.

Victoria Kennedy won the silver medal in the girls 14/15 years performing 10 solid dives from the 1m and 3m springboards.

Other divers collecting top six medals were: Collette Guyett-Smith (4^th) in the girls 8/9 Years. Robbie Lee (5^th) in the boys 8/9 years. Ethan Bennett (6^th) in the boys 10/11 years. Megan Curtis (4^th), Chloe Harrington (5^th) and Victoria Ward (6^th) in the girls 12/13 years. James Madden (4^th) & Hamish Lindsay (6^th) in the boys 12/13 Years. Alfie Lakeman-Brown (4^th) & Jacob Batchelor (6^th) in the boys 14/15 years.

Lindsey Fraser, Southampton’s Director of Coaching said: “I was delighted our youngsters are following in the footsteps of our more elite divers and performed many excellent dives.”

Girls 8/9 Years

1^st Dulcie Wilson, 4^th Collette Guyett-Smith, 7^th Evie Brighton

Boys 8/9 Years

2^nd Milo French, 3^rd Leon Baker, 5^th Robbie Lee, 7^th Bryn James

Girls 10/11 Years

9^th Maya Kutty, 11^th Olive Ullyatt, 13^th Lucy Chandler, 23^rd Amy Leneve, 26^th Simone Habben, 28^th Mutyat Anibaba, 31^st Amelia Newman

Boys 10/11 Years

6^th Ethan Bennett, 10^th Nathan Bull, 12^th Oliver Cazaly, 14^th Finley Hughes, 15^th Jonathan Cross, 19^th Kai Lanham

Girls 12/13 Years

3^rd Sofia Sathio, 4^th Megan Curtis, 5^th Chloe Harrington, 6^th Victoria Ward, 11^th Astrid Davis, 12^th Ella Anderson, 15^th Grace Hill, 16^th Olivia Perera, 17^th Lucie Hill

Boys 12/13 Years

1^st Reuben Brown, 2^nd Ashley Burnard, 3^rd Alex Walton, 4^th James Madden, 6^th Hamish Lindsay, 7^th William Frewin, 8^th Thomas Crew, 11^th Thomas MacFadyen, 12^th Max Targett, 13^th Alfie Dudson, 15^th Alex Griffiths

Girls 14/15 Years

2^nd Victoria Kennedy, 7^th Suzanna Burt, 8^th Catherine Palmer, 18th Abigail Wales, 20th Abbie Wilson

Boys 14/15 Years

4^th Alfie Lakeman-Brown, 6th Jacob Batchelor, 7th Jamie Bevan, 9th Oscar Kitchen 

The post Young Divers Compete In The Peter Waterfield Novices Competition appeared first on Active Nation.

Tom Murley is a 18-year-old man on a mission to reach the Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang in 2018. Despite suffering from Cerebral Palsy Tom has always loved skiing – even after he was told he’d never walk again following surgery, he not only found a way to return to the slopes – but he is now training with the British Disabled Ski Team and is following his dream.

Tom, a regular at Active Nation’s Alpine Snowsports Centre in Southampton, says the freedom he feels when skiing cannot be beaten and is something he simply can’t live without.

He said: “I started skiing being tethered in a bi-ski when I was 7. When I was 10, I learned how to ski standing up with outriggers on my arms. After much practice I was able to ski without outriggers and even managed to compete in a friendly race at the Alpine Snowsports Centre, Southampton.

“Skiing was not just my passion, but my family’s as well. We all learned to ski together and went skiing every week in Southampton.”

Following an operation 5 years ago Tom was off school for 8 months and was told he would never walk again.

Tom added: “After many months of physio, I can now walk a few steps on a good day. However my legs are too weak to ski any more. This was very upsetting for me because skiing was a real escape for me, as I was unable to keep up with my friends during day to day life, but on skis I was just as fast and as free as them.

“I tried to move on with my life and started playing wheelchair basketball. As much fun as basketball is, I always felt like there was a massive hole in my life; as skiing gives me the freedom and thrill that a wheelchair can’t give me.

“That’s why I decided that I would start learning to ski in a sit-ski with Solent Ski Club for the Disabled.”

Earlier this year, Tom was invited to a talent day and was spotted by the British Disabled Ski Team coaches and is now an invitational member of the squad. He has just returned from a training camp in Austria – only possible because he was able to borrow some equipment from Paralympian Tim Farr, including the sit-ski he used to race in the 2010 Winter Paralympics.

Tom added: “This is very exciting for me, but my family and I are unable to afford the basic essentials that will allow me to continue along this path. It is necessary for me to have my own equipment to participate in training and racing.”

A racing monoski costs around £4,500, outriggers £400, slalom skis £650, GS skis £700, ski bindings £260, tools £300, slalom protection £250, race gloves £170 – and this is without the travel costs, training expenses, racing licence fees – the list is endless.

Tom is hoping to attend another training camp in November, so that he can get classified and get his racing licence for the coming season and compete internationally. He has already trained with Caroline Powell – the guide who helped Active Nation’s Rising Star Jade Etherington to win 4 medals at the Winter Paralympics in Sochi earlier this year.

Tom added: “Working with Caroline has been a real inspiration for me and I cannot wait to train with the British Disabled Ski Team.”

Active Nation’s Keith Diaper has known Tom for many years and could see from the start his determination and ability. He said: “Tom is one of life’s genuine young men, always smiling. I met Tom at his first session with Solent Ski Club for the Disabled.

“Now that Tom has switched back to sit-skiing he is even more focused, if that were possible, and has again become self sufficient. With the continued support of his mum Ruth and family I am sure he can achieve his goal.”

If you think you can help Tom to reach Pyeongchang, please email him on tom.ski@hotmail.co.uk With his talent, spirit and determination we’re sure that he can do it!

The post Tom’s Mission To Reach The Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics In 2018 appeared first on Active Nation.

This summer saw 4 of Southampton Diving Academy’s top Junior divers represent their country at 2 international diving Championships in outdoor pools in Italy.

Gemma McArthur, Madeleine Angel, Brandon Foster and Emily Martin were selected following their excellent performances at The National Junior Elite Diving Championships in May.

Gemma won the honour to represent Great Britain at The Junior European Diving Championships 2014 in Bergamo, Italy at the beginning of July. She travelled with the 17 strong Junior GB team taking her place competing in the Girls 16/18 Years Platform event. Gemma finished a very respectable 4th in the preliminaries concluding with an outstanding inward three and half somersaults tucked recording a score of 354.60. In the final, the divers repeat their optional dives (more difficult dives) to compete for a medal, Gemma improved her score to 359.80 but slipped into 7^th place just ahead of her GB Teammate from Plymouth. This was Gemma’s first time competing for Team GB and her first experience diving in an outdoor pool. She was delighted to have been part of this otherwise established Junior GB Team.

Maddie, Brandon and Emily all earned a place on the England team that travelled to Rome, Italy in mid July. All 3 SDA divers competed on all 3 boards with all having most success in their platform events.

Diving in the girls 14/15 years Maddie Angell was uncatchable in her Platform event, all 7 dives were outstanding, scoring over 50 points for each optional dive, achieving a personal best score and winning the Gold Medal – an incredible 33 points ahead of her England teammate in silver position. Maddie also won bronze in her 1m springboard event, where she held the lead for most of the event but a poor final dive resulted in a 3^rd place finish, rather then gold.

Emily Martin, competing in the girls 12/13 Years, performed an excellent set of 6 dives in her platform event to record a personal best score, finishing with an outstanding inward two and half somersaults tuck from the 5m platform, attracting a score of 60.45 points to lift her above her European competitors and secure the Bronze medal. Emily achieved a very respectable 5^th with another personal best score in her 1m springboard competition. Emily was also proud to receive the ‘female highest scoring dive of the meet’ award for her 60.45 point dive on platform; this was a fantastic achievement as she was up against female divers from all age groups, up to and including 16/18 Years.

Brandon Foster finished 4^th in the boys 12/13 years platform, an agonising 0.55 of a point from the bronze medal position, despite scoring 8’s for his incredible handstand dive. A missed last dive denied him a medal. Brandon also recorded a personal best score on 3m, but finished outside the medals.

This trio were exposed various weather conditions, sometimes competing in 3 hour events in 32 degree heat and Maddie’s platform event being delayed due to a thunder and lightning storm. This coupled with travelling with the England team was a valuable experience.

Emily Martin has also secured a place on British Diving’s England Talent Programme 2014/15 after being invited to Leeds along with Brandon Foster and 20+ other Junior Elite divers from across the UK for a weekend of pool and gym assessments. Emily passed all 12 tests.

The post Junior Divers Picked To Compete For Their Country appeared first on Active Nation.

Two of Active Nation’s Rising Stars are continuing to take the sailing world by storm after winning a prestigious award at a major event on the summer calendar.

Luke Doble and Sienna Adderley received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the GJW Direct SailFest over the August Bank Holiday weekend in Calshot.

The pair, who represented Active Nation’s Team SWAC (Southampton Water Activities Centre), were sailing in their first foray beyond the shelter of Southampton and competed in every race throughout the action packed weekend. And, rather than swapping class in the Sunday Shake-Up racing they swapped their helming and crewing positions.

SailFest started with a coaching day on Friday, with 6 races scheduled over Saturday and Sunday, culminating in the North Sails One Design Long Distance Pursuit on Monday. The long weekend incorporated far more than just a handicap racing regatta with national championships, coaching, nutrition, shore-side activities and a strong social atmosphere throughout the weekend.

Max Bradbury-Knight, SWAC Sports Development Leader was also on hand over the weekend and helped the North Sail One Design team of Charlie Cumbley and Pete Mitchell to run coaching sessions on the Friday. This involved a number of starts and short races, challenging the participants by varying the ‘rules’ of the start sequence, working on boat control as well as talking them each through individual sail-setting whilst they were racing.

Over the next few days Luke, 14, and Sienna, 15, competed in every race in their RS Feva before finishing an incredible 19 out of 38. An amazing feat when you consider they were among the youngest sailors taking part and were up against more experienced competitors in a vast variety of boats.

Max said: “Once again I am very proud of both Sienna and Luke.  The enthusiasm that they bought to every day and the help from their friends and family was brilliant.  SWAC are proud to have them representing us!”

Luke and Sienna are both studying for their GCSEs and since coming to SWAC they have progressed through the Royal Yachting Association’s Youth Sailing Scheme. They first competed in a Regatta against a local Sailing Club in October 2013 where they brought home 1st Place for Team SWAC – their sailing career started there!

If you want to find out more about SWAC please visit our website and check out what’s happening www.swac.co.uk You can also check out our Facebook page www.facebook.com/swacsail or give us a call on 02380 915753.

The post Rising Stars Luke And Sienna Are ‘Outstanding’ appeared first on Active Nation.

Divers from Active Nation’s Southampton Diving Academy competed in the 2014 British Gas ASA National Age Group Diving Championships against top divers from around the country.

11-year-old Angus Kerr was SDA’s most successful diver of the weekend at Ponds Forge in Sheffield. On the first day of competition most of the team paired up for the synchro event.  Angus, who had enjoyed winning the National 9-13 Year Boys Synchro title with his SDA teammate Brandon Foster in 2013, this year, teamed up with a diver from another club having lost Foster to the Elite level of diving.  Angus proved his versatility by, once again, coming away with the gold medal and retaining the title with his partner – winning the event on the very last dive.

After his initial gold medal win, Angus proceeded to battle it out against his synchro partner for the top spots in the individual events. Despite the lower tariff dives, which means his scores are multiplied by a lower amount, he secured the Silver on Platform and the Gold on 1m Springboard by demonstrating his attention to detail on every dive, his most successful dive was an Inward one and half somersaults piked (403b) on 5m platform which scored 50.40 points.

The SDA team also enjoyed several top 6 placings in this high standard competition. Young Evie Johnson, who has just started in the sport from the TID programme achieved an amazing 5^th place in the girls 11+under platform event. Rhys Crookes, diving in the boys 12/13 years has been working on several new dives on all 3 boards this season and executed them with confidence at this competition, securing him 4th position on a three boards, just missing out on the medals.  Thomas Graham was SDA’s only contender in the boys 16/18 years and secured 4^th place in his platform event and 5^th place in his 1m springboard event. Diving consistently in the boys 14/15 years platform event saw Scott Palmer achieve a 6^th placing in his platform event.  Synchro partners Jade Brindley and Emily Adams, Thomas Graham and Scott Palmer and Rhys Crookes and Tyler Lane were also placed top 6 in their respective synchro events.

This National event sees the divers having to compete on all three boards and with most of the divers taking part in the synchro event this year; they competed on all 4 days. The team responded to the challenge and it was pleasing to see so many divers achieving Personal Bests and showing team spirit in the synchro event.

Full Results

Boys 8-13 1m Springboard Synchro

1^st Angus Kerr and Tyler Humphreys,  6^th Rhys Crookes and Tyler Lane,  8^th Dylan Lakeman-Brown and Thomas Bailey

Boys 14/18 3m Springboard Synchro 

5^th Thomas Graham and Scott Palmer

Girls 8-13 1m Springboard Synchro 

5^th Jade Brindley and Emily Adams, 8^th Jessica Bennett and Lauren Bailey

Girls 8/11 Years 1m Springboard 

21^st Evelyna Johnson

Boys 8/11 Years 1m Springboard  

1^st Angus Kerr

Girls 12/13 Years 1m Springboard 

11^th Jessica Bennett, 18^th Jade Brindley, 23^rd Serena Torpey, 26^th Chantelle Bekett, 27^th Emily Adams, 29^th Lauren Bailey

Boys 12/13 Years 1m Springboard  

4^th Rhys Crookes, 7^th Tyler Lane, 10^th Thomas Bailey, 13^th Cameron Gammage, 19^th Dylan Lakeman-Brown.

Girls 14/15 Years 1m Springboard 

16^th Katie McArthur, 25^th Nicole Van-Hoof

Boys 14/15 Years 1m Springboard  

11^th Elliot Moorhouse, 12^th Robbie Brodie, 15^th Scott Palmer, 16^th William Osborne

Boys 16/18 Years 1m Springboard 

5^th Thomas Graham

Girls 8/11 Years 3m Springboard  

21^st Evelyna Johnson

Boys 8/11 Years 3m Springboard  

5^th Angus Kerr

Girls 12/13 Years 3m Springboard  

14^th Jessica Bennett, 20^th  Serena Torpey, 23^rd  Jade Brindley,  24^th Emily Adams , 28^th Lauren Bailey

Boys 12/13 Years 3m Springboard  

4^th Rhys Crookes, 7^th Tyler Lane, 8^th Cameron Gammage, 14^th Dylan Lakeman-Brown, 15^th Thomas Bailey

Girls 14/15 Years 3m Springboard  

19^th Katie McArthur, 21^st  Nicole Van-Hoof

Boys 14/15 Years 3m Springboard 

8^th Scott Palmer 10^th Elliot Moorhouse, 14^th William Osborne

Boys 16/18 Years 3m Springboard 

9^th Thomas Graham

Girls 8/11 Years 5m Platform   

5th Evelyna Johnson

Boys 8/11 Years 5m Platform  

2^nd Angus Kerr

Girls 12/13 Years Platform

10^th Jessica Bennett, 12^th Jade Brindley, 16^th Emily Adams, 18^th Lauren Bailey, 19^th Serena Torpey.

Boys 12/13 Years Platform

4^th Rhys Crookes, 9^th Cameron Gammage, 12^th Thomas Bailey, =15^th Tyler Lane,  =15^th Dylan Lakeman-Brown,

Girls 14/15 Years Platform  

12^th Katie Mc Arthur

Boys 14/15 Years Platform  

6^th Scott Palmer, 8^th William Osborne

Boys 16/18 Years Platform

4^th Thomas Graham

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