Letchworth GC teenager Ashley Franklin recorded the finest win of his career so far by taking double gold and a bronze at the ASA English Age Group Diving Championships. He was representing the Beaumont Diving Academy and he is coached by Letchworth s int
Letchworth GC teenager Ashley Franklin recorded the finest win of his career so far by taking double gold and a bronze at the ASA English Age Group Diving Championships.
He was representing the Beaumont Diving Academy and he is coached by Letchworth's international diving coach and former GB Olympic coach Derek Beaumont.
The 16-year-old, a former Fearnhill schoolboy, performed some of the most complicated high degree of difficulty dives ever witnessed in this event.
Through the lack of training facilities in the county, the Herts and East Region highboard champion - who trains at the Hatfield Swim Centre five times a week - has been forced alongside his coach to put in an additional session from the 10m platform once a week at the National Sports Centre, Crystal Palace.
This is where he learned the most complex of his movements for a gold medal winning performance of 222.50 points, 22 points ahead of his nearest rival.
Another difficult dive secured victory in the three-metre Group A springboard by 13.70 points.
But on the one-metre springboard, a lapse of concentration relegated Ashley to the bronze medal position despite leading the field after the penultimate dive.
These fine performances have earned him an invite to attend the 2012 Olympic squad assessment camp in Sheffield this month.
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