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October 13th 2025
Spotlight: Our Year 9 Sports Scholar, Sienna
My National Diving Competition journey
In June, I had the incredible opportunity to compete in a British Swimming National age group diving competition held at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Birmingham.
To qualify for nationals, I first had to earn my spot through a preliminary competition. That involved a lot of preparation - I had to work with my coach to carefully plan a list of six dives for each board, each one meeting specific criteria. We also had two days of preparation at the training pool before the competition began, giving me time to get familiar with the boards and the environment.
On the day of my event, I followed a precise warm-up routine. I’d start preparing when the diver ten spots ahead of me was up, and again when the fifth diver before me was on the board. At that point, I’d check in with my coach, tell her which dive I was doing, and demonstrate a drill. She’d give me feedback, and I’d repeat the drill until it was my turn. When my moment came, I stepped onto the board and reminded myself of the key corrections – then I took a deep breath and dove.
After each dive, I’d sit with my teammates, chat, play games, and relax until it was time to warm up again. I repeated this cycle six times throughout the competition.
Once all the dives were complete, we waited nervously for the results to appear on the big screen. If you placed in the top three, you’d change into your team kit, receive your medal, take photos with the other medallists, and celebrate!
It was such a great experience. I was delighted to place first on the 1m and 3m dives in my age group 'C Girls’ category.
Written by Sienna, Year 8, Sports Scholar
