Diving News
Last updated: 21st November 2025
London Legacy Open 2025: Leeds divers claim five medals
25th November 2025
City of Leeds divers delivered a strong set of performances at the London Legacy Open 2025, returning from the London Aquatics Centre with five medals in a high-quality international field.
In the senior women’s events, Amy Wright and Kate Gardner led the way for Leeds. On springboard, Amy dived consistently to take bronze on both 1m and 3m. On platform, Kate produced a strong final to secure silver and round off an impressive set of senior results for the club.
In the Open B category, Felix Wheeler claimed silver on platform, splitting two German divers in a highly competitive final, and added bronze in the 3m springboard in one of the highest-scoring events of the competition. Felix’s platform silver was underpinned by two big-scoring 10-metre dives: an armstand back three somersaults for 64.35 points, and a closing forward three-and-a-half somersaults which added 63.45 points and took his total to 371.90 to secure second place. He rounded off his programme with seventh place on 1m springboard after another strong performance in a deep international field. Alongside him, teammate Hakim Whyte finished ninth in both the 3m springboard and platform events, and 19th on 1m.
In the C girls’ events, Emily Costello came agonisingly close to a medal on platform, producing one of the Leeds performances of the week. After qualifying eighth in the preliminaries, she stepped up again in the final to finish fourth, missing the bronze by less than a point. Teammate Flo Hall also delivered a strong platform prelim, finishing 14th in a highly competitive field. Earlier in the meet, Flo had finished 12th on 1m and Emily 21st in a field dominated by teams from the USA and Canada. Both divers then added further international experience on 3m, with Flo placing 17th and Emily 24th in the preliminaries, rounding off a demanding but productive programme in London.
In the A Open platform final, Fred Crossley finished sixth in a high-calibre contest featuring athletes from Germany, the USA and City of Sheffield. Earlier in the day he had qualified in fifth place from the platform preliminaries, showing real composure, and he also gained valuable experience on 3m, placing 16th overall. In the girls’ A category, Livia Thomas finished 15th in a forty-strong international line-up featuring athletes from across Europe and North America.
City of Leeds squad: Emily Costello, Fred Crossley, Kate Gardner, Flo Hall, Chloe Johnson, Livia Thomas, Felix Wheeler, Hakim Whyte and Amy Wright.
Full event results and dive sheets are available on Dive Recorder.
Leeds divers recognised on Swim England pathway
21st November 2025
City of Leeds Diving Club is celebrating national pathway recognition for two junior athletes. Betsy Crossley and Daisy Costello have been selected for Swim England’s Youth Development programme.
The Youth Development programme is the first step on Swim England’s talent pathway. Across around seven weekend camps over 20 months, athletes develop technical quality, physical conditioning and competition habits through pool, dryland and education sessions. Betsy and Daisy’s selection reflect their consistent progress and potential to compete at higher levels of the sport.
In recognition of his outstanding performance at this year’s Talent Games, nine-year old Toby has also received a one-off day-guest invitation to the Youth Development camp in Leeds next year. The invite gives him the chance to train alongside the Youth Development Squad across the weekend, taking part in all dryland, pool and education workshops.
Head Coach Marc Holdsworth said, “We are really proud of Betsy, Daisy and Toby. Selection for Youth Development is a brilliant step that recognises their hard work, positive attitude and the way they support each other in training and at competitions. These opportunities help young divers build great habits in and out of the pool and our whole coaching team will be behind them as they take the next steps. Well done to the divers, their families and our coaches for everything that goes into making moments like this possible.”
Betsy and Daisy’s selections build on strong results at the National Age Group Finals in July, where Betsy won bronze on 1m and silver on Platform, and Daisy took silver on 3m.
The invitations follow an excellent club showing at the Swim England Talent Games 2025, hosted at John Charles Centre for Sport. The event brings together the country’s best divers aged 11 and under for two days of dryland and pool-based challenges and is a key selection point for Youth Development. Toby won a hat trick of gold medals in Group E Open Dryland, Pool and Overall, Benji Lavin took silver in Group E Open Dryland, Daisy won bronze in Girls D Dryland, and Phoebe Baker claimed bronze in Girls E Dryland and Overall. The Leeds girls capped the weekend by lifting the Overall Female Team Trophy.
Talent Games 2025
5th November 2025
The Swim England Diving Talent Games 2025 brought together the country’s best young divers at the John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds for two days of competition combining dryland and pool-based challenges. Designed for divers aged 11 and under, the event tests strength, flexibility and technical skill across a series of physical and acrobatic exercises as well as traditional diving events. It also serves as an important selection opportunity for the Swim England Youth Development Squad.
It was a proud weekend for the City of Leeds Diving Club, whose young divers demonstrated focus, discipline and teamwork throughout the event. Toby Dorey led the way with a superb hat-trick of gold medals in the Group E Open Dryland, Pool and Overall categories, underlining his growing consistency and composure in national competition. Benji Lavin also impressed, taking silver in the Group E Open Dryland.
There was more to celebrate across the team, with Daisy Costello taking bronze in the Girls D Dryland competition and Phoebe Baker claiming bronze in both the Girls E Dryland and Overall events. The weekend concluded with a fantastic result for the squad as the Leeds girls lifted the Overall Female Team Trophy, recognising their combined strength across all disciplines.
Head Coach Marc Holdsworth said:
“We’re incredibly proud of how our divers performed this weekend. The Talent Games is such an important milestone in their development, and it was brilliant to see their focus, teamwork and enthusiasm shine through. Every one of them gave their best and supported each other throughout. I also want to thank our coaching team for the time, care and dedication they put into helping each diver reach their potential.”
The Talent Games is one of the most demanding and rewarding competitions in the Swim England calendar, blending fun, friendship and fierce competition. For Leeds, it provided another opportunity to celebrate the hard work and potential of its youngest athletes, supported every step of the way by dedicated coaches, volunteers and families. The results continue a strong run of performances for Leeds divers this season, following impressive showings at the White Rose Invitational and Southampton Invitational earlier this autumn.
White Rose Invitational 2025
4th November 2025
It was another outstanding weekend for City of Leeds Diving Club, as the club’s divers competed with focus, determination and a growing sense of confidence across every age group.
In the youngest category, Group E Open, Zain Shamshudin produced a brilliant series of dives to claim gold, with teammate Jenson Lorimen taking a well-deserved bronze. Benji Lavin and Hugo Traviss-Turner both impressed too, finishing strongly inside the top six. The Group E Girls continued the success, where Phoebe Baker took gold after a composed display, with Kate Kirilova delivering another consistent performance to finish fifth.
There was more to celebrate in Group D Girls, as Gabby Roberts-Smith showed poise under pressure to secure bronze, closely followed by Sophie Patterson in fifth. In Group C Girls, Leeds dominated the podium, Sophia Smith performed with style and confidence to take gold, Poppy Earnshaw added bronze and Sophia Wright completed a strong showing in sixth. The momentum continued in Group B Girls, where Hazel Stockton dived superbly to win bronze, with Florence Smith finishing fifth against a tough national field.
Leeds’ strength was also on full display in the invitational platform events, which gave divers valuable experience on the 3m and 5m boards and provided useful practice ahead of next week’s Talent Games competition.
Toby Dorey (diving as a guest) and Zain Shamshudin shared gold in the Group E Open Platform, followed by Jenson Lorimen in fourth, Hugo Traviss-Turner in fifth and Ryan Hemmings in sixth.
The Group E Girls Platform brought another strong set of results for Leeds. Phoebe Baker secured silver, Alice James took bronze, with Poppy Dixon in fourth, Freya Wood in fifth and Kate Kirilova in sixth.
In the Group D Girls Platform, Olivia (guest) took silver, with Betsy Crossley (guest) finishing fourth, Charlotte Roberts-Smith fifth and Jess Kirilova (guest) sixth after strong, composed dives. James Hobson rounded off the event for Leeds, taking gold in the Group D Open Platform.
“I’m really proud of how our divers performed,” said Marc Holdsworth, City of Leeds Diving Club Head Coach. “A number of them are still new to competition, but they’re growing in confidence and you can see their hard work in training starting to shine through in competition.”
Southampton Invitational 2025
20th October 2025
There were some excellent performances by Leeds divers at the Southampton Invitational, hosted by Southampton Diving Academy. Samuel Baker led the way with a superb gold in the Group C Platform, and added a bronze in the Group C 3m after finishing 1st in the preliminary. Edgar Traviss-Turner also performed strongly on 3m, finishing fifth in the final. Archie Isbell continued Leeds’ success, diving for the first time in the senior Group A+ category, earning silver on both the 3m and Platform, along with a solid fourth in the 1m event. Orla Gainfort impressed in the Girls Group D & Under events, claiming bronze in the Platform and finishing fourth on the 3m. Competing in her first Age Group competition, Alice James gained valuable experience on the 1m, finishing sixth. In the Girls Group C events, Tallulah Taylor showed great composure to finish fourth on the 1m and sixth on the 3m, demonstrating consistency across both boards. In the Group B Girls 1m, Erin Simmonds finished fourth, while Seb Auld placed fifth in the Group B Platform event.
It was a great weekend in Southampton and a fantastic way to kick off the new season for our Age Group Divers.
Diving Awards 2024-2025
20th September 2025
The Norman Hunter Suite at Leeds United Football Club was the venue for our annual awards ceremony. Over 150 attendees witnessed our talented young divers celebrate their achievements alongside our Club Olympians. We are incredibly proud of their dedication and hard work. Special mentions must go to Liv Thomas who won the Head Coach Award, and Felix Wheeler, who collected a number of awards to cap off a fabulous season during which he represented Aquatics GB at the Junior European Diving Championships in Athens.
Welcome to the 2025-2026 season!
2nd September 2025
City of Leeds Diving Club welcomes our divers back for the start of the new season following the summer break. Lots of fantastic events and opportunities lie ahead for our talented squads and we wish them all the best!
The club is also delighted to confirm the summer (re)signing of talented coach, James Milton! After leaving the club in 2024 to spend a year seeing the world, James has returned to coach our National Skills Squad. We're certain James's expertise, experience, and calm leadership will set our divers up for success.
Dive Leeds enjoys sunny week at the Rijeka Open!
9th July 2025
Divers from City of Leeds Age Group and Elite squads enjoyed a marvellous week competing against some of the world's best young divers at the Rijeka Open, Croatia. Divers from the USA, Sweden, Germany, the UK, and Croatia competed for gold in the fabulous surroundings at the Kantrida Complex. With multiple podium results across different age categories, it was a successful end of year competition and wonderful experience for our young divers.
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