Triple medal-winning weekend in Germany for Meldreth-based diver

MELDRETH’S Daniel Goodfellow continued his remarkable success with a hat-trick of medals at last weekend’s International Youth Meet at Dresden, Germany.

The 15-year-old, who is part of Great Britain’s Development Squad, picked up gold in the three-metre synchro event, silver in the 10m platform and bronze in the three-metre springboard. His performances now mean he has earned his place to compete at the European Junior Championships in Austria in June.

He qualified for the event after performing so well at the Junior Elite Championships in Southend two weeks previously, where he won two silver medals and two bronze. He also came second to Tom Daley in the platform preliminary event, before winning bronze in the final.

The Dresden meet is a vital qualifier for the European Junior Championships this summer so it was critical that Daniel was there – but it very nearly didn’t happen. It was only due to the hard work of the Cambridge Dive Team [where Daniel is based] that Dan and coach Marc Holdsworth were able to afford to attend the competition. Despite being one of only 10 divers selected to be in the British Diving Development Squad, the overseeing body British Swimming was not going to pay for Daniel to go to Dresden.

It was good fortune that Dan, with unstinting support of family friends and his club, had been awarded a sports scholarship from the ICAP Beckwith Foundation that helps his family pay for such trips.

The Cambridge Dive Team (the smallest but most successful five-metre diving venue in the country) rallied round and helped coach Holdsworth make the trip.

It’s clear the effort was well worth it. Daniel will now go to Austria, and if he does well there and gets enough qualifying points he will go to the World Junior Championships in Australia later in the year.

In the 10m platform event Daniel fended off the challenge of Russia’s German Stroev and Canada’s Nicolas Beaupre to take the silver, while in the synchro he and partner Freddie Woodward took gold – a feat made even more remarkable given it was the first time the duo had dived together.

Daniel won bronze on the first day of the event in the three-metre springboard.