SDA Newsletter — July 2026

National Skills Finals, Southampton 2026 - SDA Divers Shine

Swim England's 2026 National Skills Finals came to The Quays in Southampton in July - the first National event in Southampton in 15 years - and our SDA divers rose to the occasion.

Day 1: Female B: Lily finished 4th. Female C1: Emma placed 7th, Taliyah 13th, and Erin 16th

Day 2: Female A (1m): Freya took 2nd place, following it up with 3rd in the Female A overall results. D2 Female: Tirana-Kacie placed 5th, with Alana (26th), Aria (29th), and Abigail (30th) also competing. D1 Female: Pearl finished 18th. D1 Open: Daniel placed 7th

Special Award: The Margaret Davis Trophy awarded to Matthew Roberts for being Coach of the Year from results at Swim England National Age Groups and Aquatics GB Next Gen Diving Championships

Congratulations to all our divers, and a huge thank you to the SDA volunteers, coaches, The Quays staff, BH Live, and Swim England for making the event such a success - a great way to close out the 2025/26 season.

National Age Group Championships 2026 - Divers Bring Home Gold and Silver

The club's diving squad delivered a standout week at the Swim England National Age Group (NAG) Championships, held at Sandwell Aquatics Centre from 25-28 June, with two golds and a silver among a strong set of results across the four days of competition.

Day 1: Kayla S opened the meet with 10th place in the A Female 3m. In the B Female 1m, Elsie M finished 19th, Imogen S 25th, and Sophia G 27th. The standout of the day came from Hunter M, who took silver in the C Open Platform, finishing 2nd.

Day 2: The morning session brought the squad's first gold of the meet, as Rosie-Mei D topped the podium in the C Female 1m. Hollie H placed 12th and Elsie C 33rd in the same event. In the afternoon, Hunter M added a 7th-place finish in the C Open 3m. The B Female Platform saw a strong showing with Imogen S (11th), Elsie M (12th), and Sophia G (13th) all finishing inside the top 15. Skye S placed 9th in the D Female 1m. The day was capped off with a second gold, as Kayla S won the A Female Platform.

Day 3: Ben R placed 6th in the B Open Platform. In the C Female 3m, Rosie-Mei D finished 17th, Hollie H 18th, and Elsie C 25th. Elsie Maidment placed 18th in the B Female 3m.

Day 4: The final day saw Hollie H finish 11th, Rosie-Mei D 14th, and Elsie C 22nd in the C Female Platform. Ben R placed 7th in the B Open 1m, and Skye S rounded out the meet with 20th in the D Female 3m.

Coaches Matt and Nick praised the squad's efforts across all four days, with the club celebrating "fantastic diving" from every member of the team.

Regional Skills Event, Reading 2026

Southampton Diving Academy's young divers put in a strong two-day showing at the Regional Skills competition in Reading, returning home with three golds, a silver and a bronze among a raft of top-ten finishes.

Day 1: In the B Female category, Lily Bryant finished 6th and Rebecca Nash 8th, while Leo Mcinnes took 4th in B Open. The C1 Female field saw a big SDA turnout: Taliyah Clarke claimed silver with a 2nd-place finish, with Emma Etheridge 5th, Erin Miller 4th, Emily Barnard 7th, Evie Taylor 8th, and Isabelle Taylor 9th. Oscar Hilder placed 8th in C1 Open. In C2 Female, Tosia Marszalek took bronze in 3rd, with Aurelie Tanner close behind in 5th.

Day 2: Lincoln capped a dominant day with two golds, topping the podium in both the A 1m Open and A 3m Open. In D1 Female, Pearl D finished 4th, Sophie F 8th, and Chloe D 9th. Albie M added a third gold for the squad, winning D2 Open outright. The D2 category was a strong one for SDA, with Tirana-Kacie M taking silver in 2nd, with Aria O finishing 5th, Alana P 6th, Lily R 7th, and Abigail S 10th.

Well done to all the divers, and thanks to coaches Nick and Tom for their work across the weekend.

Albatross Inter-Club Competition, Reading, June 2026

This was a great opportunity for divers working toward the skills level to gain more competition experience, and they all handled themselves brilliantly. Well done to everyone! 🙂

Girls Group E: Emily Cenaj finished 9th.

Girls Group D: Jocelyn Macklin finished 16th.

Girls Group C: Florence Laslett finished 12th.

Open Group C: William Blackman placed 21st, Oscar Hilder 17th, and Zackary Brown 16th.

Girls Group B: Elouise Littlewood finished 7th.

Open Group B: George Carter placed 6th.

International Trip: Bulgaria 2026 - SDA Divers Bring Home Golds and Best Team Award

Southampton Diving Academy travelled to Bulgaria for the Sofia Cup and returned with a haul of medals, two individual golds for Adam Tearle, and the competition's Best Team Award, finishing 3rd overall.

Day 1: Adam got the meet off to a flying start with gold in the A Boys 3m, with teammate Jed finishing 6th. Bronze medals followed for Kate in the C Girls 3m and Ella in the B Girls Platform, where Emma also placed 5th, Elsie M 9th, and Sophia 14th. Elsewhere, Lana finished 11th in the A Girls 1m and Hunter 4th in the C Boys Platform.

Day 2: Harry claimed gold in the Boys B Platform, with Rami 4th and Jack 6th in the same event. Jed added a silver in the Boys A Platform. Ella finished 9th in the Girls B 1m, Emma 16th, Elsie 18th, and Sophia 21st, while Kayla placed 7th in the Girls A 3m.

Day 3: Adam picked up his second gold of the competition in the Boys A 1m. Harry finished 6th in the Boys B 3m, with Rami 8th and Jack 9th, while Hunter placed 10th in the Boys C 1m. Kayla and Lana finished 8th and 10th respectively in the Girls A Platform. In the Girls C 1m, Kate placed 13th, Thea 23rd, and Khloe 24th, and Emma finished 13th in the Girls B 3m.

Final Day: Jack and Rami closed out the Boys B 1m in 6th and 8th, while Rosie Mei, Thea, and Khloe finished 16th, 18th, and 20th in the Girls C Platform.

The competition closed with a ceremony recognising SDA's efforts across the week: Adam Tearle was named Top Group A Male, and the squad picked up the Best Team Award, 3rd place. Well done to everyone, and a big thank you to Matthew Roberts for his coaching throughout the trip.

England Youth & Junior Development Camps

🇬🇧 England Youth Development Camp 🇬🇧

Well done to our three divers Kate, Hollie and Hunter who travelled to Sandwell Aquatics Centre with coach Tom to attend the Swim England Youth Development Camps 3 and 7, part of the England Talent Pathway Programme.

The camp focused on front and inward diving themes, alongside ballet, strength and conditioning, and psychology workshops. The divers worked hard throughout the weekend, well done!

🇬🇧 England Junior Development Assessment Camp 🇬🇧

Harry, Ella, Kate, and Immy attended the Junior Development Assessment Camp at Sandwell Aquatics Centre in July 🏴. A huge well done to all our divers for their fantastic effort and commitment throughout the camp. Across pool, physical and dry land assessments, technical sessions and educational workshops, they showed real focus and enthusiasm every step of the way.

SDA Alumni & Masters News, and Aquatics GB Diving Championships

SDA Alumni & Masters News - A Summer of Success for SDA's Legacy Divers

It's been a whirlwind few weeks for SDA's legacy divers, Tilly, Leon and Robbie, who have taken their diving from Birmingham to Madrid and all the way to Mexico - picking up medals and personal bests along the way.

The trio kicked things off in style at the Aquatics GB Diving Nationals, with all three taking home medals and setting personal bests. Tilly retained her title with gold on 1m, and added a second gold in the 3m synchro alongside Evie. Leon took silver on the men's 3m, and Robbie claimed bronze in the 10m synchro, diving with Kyle. One judge at the event described it as "great diving and judging with a great group of people," and was delighted to award two perfect 10s along the way.

Tilly then travelled to Madrid to compete individually, finishing 7th in the 3m individual and 5th in the synchro event, again partnering with Evie.

Most recently, all three legacy divers competed together at the Mexican Diving Cup in Guadalajara. In the individual events, Robbie finished 5th on 10m, Leon 6th on 3m, and Tilly 10th on 3m. In the 3m synchro, Leon placed 5th partnering Hugo from Dive London, while Tilly placed 5th alongside Evie, also from Dive London. Robbie rounded off the meet with a silver medal in the 10m synchro, diving with Noah from Edinburgh for the first time.

Congratulations to Tilly, Leon and Robbie on an outstanding run of results across three countries - a brilliant reflection of the strength of SDA's legacy programme.

Aquatics GB Diving Championships

Congratulations to Adam, who competed in Birmingham at the Aquatics GB Diving Championships, placing 14th in the men's 3m prelim. It was Adam's first time diving in this event and at this level, and he showed some very respectable diving! 🙂 Thank-you also to Lindsey Fraser who was judging at this event!

New Forest Waterpark, Coaches Corner & Save the Date: Southampton Invitational 2026

New Forest Waterpark

Finally our divers managed to spend an afternoon at the New Forest Waterpark celebrating the end of a fantastic season! We hope that all our members enjoy a great summer 😎

Save the Date: Southampton Invitational 2026, 24-26th October, 25th Anniversary, at The Quays Swimming & Diving Complex. Entry pack will be available soon, you don't want to miss this one! T-shirt Pre-order link available.

Coaches Corner

The home straight of SDA's competitive season was a huge success. We had our National Age Group team in Birmingham bringing home x2 gold medals and a silver medal with lots of PBs from the team, we also had our Skills Aspiring divers compete in Albatross interclub which was a very positive experience for them. We sent a team to the Sofia Diving Cup in Bulgaria where a lot of our divers were competing in a different country for the first time which was great to see, the team picked up lots of medals throughout the weekend and finished 3rd in the team Trophy. As well as this, Adam Tearle was awarded top group A male, Adam also competed in his first senior event in June at the Aquatics GB Diving Championships placing 14th congratulations. We also had involvement once again on the Youth Development Camp and England Junior Assessment Camp where the divers performed very well.

The last event of the season was at The Quays where we hosted the Swim England National Skills Finals 2026. This was the first time a national event has come to the Quays in 15 years and SDA, BH live and Swim England worked together seamlessly to deliver a tremendous event. SDA also walked away with a silver and a bronze medal as well as a number of top 6 finishes.

I'd like to thank SDA's volunteers, BH live staff, the coaching team, the divers, and the whole of SDA for your support, hard work and dedication in making this season a huge success and we hope you all enjoy some well-deserved time off. - Matt Roberts, Head Coach

Diving Taster Sessions

Perfect for children aged 6-12 who want to try diving and start working towards achieving Swim England diving awards. All participants must be able to swim 25m unaided and without goggles.

Location: BH Live Active, The Quays. Sessions: Tuesday 5pm, Wednesday 8:15pm, Saturday 10am & 10:30am, Sunday 2:45pm. Scan the QR code to book.

Public Diving is Here to Stay

It's official ❗ Public Diving is here to stay 🤩 Weekly @thequayssouthampton on Sundays from 4pm to 4:55pm 💪 All Welcome

Volunteers Needed

Volunteers Needed: Would you like to get involved with home competitions, away competitions, getting qualified to drive the minibus etc? We need you! Our trips and home competitions are only made possible by our wonderful volunteers and we need more help. Register your interest with sdaclubvolunteers@gmail.com