Todd Geggus Aims for Consistency at World Junior Diving Championships

The continuous emergence of British diving talent shows no signs of slowing, with five additional medals secured at this summer’s Paris Olympics. Coaches at Southend Diving are optimistic that Todd Geggus could achieve significant success at future Games. The 17-year-old springboard specialist has been named to a nine-member Great Britain squad for the World Aquatics Junior Diving Championships, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro from 24 November to 1 December. Having placed ninth in the 1m event in Canada two years ago at the age of 15, this competition represents Geggus’s final opportunity at the World Juniors due to age restrictions. “It’s his second time around, and he should be feeling a bit more like he knows what to expect,” coach Shan Veasey told BBC Look East. “We’d love to see him get a medal, and a realistic result of top six is something that we think is achievable.” Geggus, who is the current national age group champion in both springboard events, started learning to dive with his sisters when he was six or seven, and his enthusiasm for the sport persisted after they stopped. He explained, “It was just the adrenalin and doing something that gives you a buzz – and you just want to keep going back again and again and again.” Diving is a sport from which it can be challenging to step away; five-time Olympic medallist Tom Daley is contemplating another Games appearance at Los Angeles in 2028, having recently collected a silver medal in the 10m synchro platform event in Paris. Despite Daley’s extensive success, he is not Geggus’s primary source of inspiration. Geggus stated, “The person I look up to most is probably Ross Haslam because he’s a really good 3m springboard diver and I want to be good at 3m as well.” Mountain biking and restoring cars with his father offer Geggus relaxation away from the pool, but pursuing his diving ambitions necessitates training six times a week, including a three-hour session on Saturdays. “My dream would be to go to the Olympics, that’s been my goal since I first started and hopefully I’ll get there one day,” he added. “I just need to train as hard as I can, work hard basically.” He also noted, “I’ve always loved it, but it can be quite scary when you’re learning new dives or just doing dives that you don’t enjoy as much.” So, what are his aspirations for the upcoming championships in Rio? He said: “(I need to) Stay consistent and be happy however it goes. There’s a lot of good divers in the competition, but a medal would be my goal, to come away with a medal.” Southend is home to several talented young divers; for example, Alice Billton recently secured second place in synchro representing England at an event in California, and Connor Lano has also participated in international competitions. “Since I have been involved (in the sport), I have seen British diving go from strength to strength,” said Veasey. “This year in particular has been the most successful year, especially for female divers. This year they’ve absolutely smashed it and got some historic results which is wonderful to see.” She concluded, “I think Great Britain, as a whole in terms of sport, is continuing to get stronger and stronger.” Veasey, who previously served as a regional development manager for the Amateur Swimming Association, now Swim England, expressed disappointment that diving will not be featured in the slimmed-down Commonwealth Games in Scotland in 2026. The event’s location had to be changed after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew from hosting it. “It’s being held in Glasgow and we’ve got a dive pool in Edinburgh so it is a shame not to make the most of that opportunity,” she said. “As a spectacle, we would have loved to be able to access the Commonwealth Games but we’ll look for other opportunities to gain that experience.” Experience is crucial as the promising athlete Geggus seeks to advance. Veasey added, “He’s been with the programme for 10 years or thereabouts and he’s always been very good at the sport.” She continued, “He’s had many successes as a junior diver and he’s just beginning to make the transfer into senior diving now. He’s had good results there too for a boy of his age, so we’re pretty proud of him.” “A stretch goal is the LA 2028 (Olympics) – if that happens, that would be amazing. If not, we’re looking at 2032 as a little bit more of a realistic target.” Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.