MILDURA’S major diving event has once again been hailed a huge success.
Athletes from seven different clubs proved their mettle in the air during the annual Ripntear Peter and Patricia Morgan Memorial Meet and Victorian Country Diving Championships at Mildura Waves from Friday to Sunday.
Competing from the springboards as well as the platform, all divers braved the heat to put on their best performances, with the aim of reaching Australian Age Championships qualification.
Event organiser and Diving Sunraysia head coach Leanne Morgan said the weekend was “awesome”.
“The whole weekend ran really smoothly which was great,” she said.
“To have so many divers here during the week for a training camp plus on Saturday and Sunday was terrific.
“There were a lot of family members who came and did all the tourist things in Mildura as well, which included one girl from Germany where her family had come out and met her here, so it was great for local tourism as well.”
Diving Victoria executive officer and former Olympic diver James Connor attended, as did Mildura mayor Helen Healy and councillors Rebecca Crossling and Katie Clements.
Diving South Australia’s Laura Fitzgerald earned the Amanda Johnson Perpetual Award for the best performance from a visiting diver, taking out gold in the the female 16-18 years one-metre springboard with a score of 269.5, alongside a silver on the three-metre springboard.
Best performed local diver was not awarded due to Diving Sunraysia athletes all competing in novice events.
The highest score from the platform came from Melam Diving Club diver Taya Argus with a score of 237.3.
The synchro challenge, where teams were picked at random, was taken out by Ringwood’s Chloe Cullen and Diving South Australia’s Ashleigh Slobedman with a score of 138.09.
Ringwood duo Frederick Fletcher and Eve Williams were just behind on 136.29, with South Australian team Cooper Newman and Ruby Benson third with 133.77.
Melbourne’s Nick Vasta was the winner of the Outdoor Springboard Championship with 394.9, pocketing $300 for his work.
Mackenzie Lehman was next with 381.6 and Liela O’Sullivan third with 371.85.
O’Sullivan took out the Skins Platform event with 139.7.
A number of other awards were also presented at the event.
Diving South Australia’s Wayde Masters was handed his trophy for the 2024 Diving Australian Volunteer of the Year after not being able to attend last year’s ceremony.
Donna Wood was a recipient of the Diving SA 2024 Amanda Johnson Memorial Award as Volunteer of the Year, while Gavin Wood was presented the Diving SA 2024 AAA Award for Outstanding Long-term Service to organisation.
