Daley amongst 2017 Swim England National Awards winners

Tom Daley, Ruby Bower, Phoebe Banks and Sheffield Diving Club all won honours at the Swim England National Awards 2017 at the University of Birmingham.

The event took place at the university’s Great Hall, and recognised the vast contribution of individuals and organisations from all areas of the sport.

Daley wins Performance Athlete of the Year for Diving

Daley won the Performance Athlete of the Year award for Diving after another fantastic year. In 2017, Tom became a two-time 10m Platform World champion, winning individual gold in Budapest, eight years after claiming the same title in Rome in 2009.

Daley is a great ambassador for diving and has inspired many young athletes to take up the sport. After the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, he helped to promote the Swim England Start Diving programme.

Daley said: “I just want say thank you for making me Performance Athlete of the Year for Diving. I also want to thank my coach Jane and I hope there will be more to come next year.”

Banks and Bower win England Talent Athlete of the Year

Banks and Bower had the unusual honour of jointly taking the England Talent Athlete of the Year award. The pair dive together as synchro partners, and have both been on the England Talent Diving Pathway for a number of years.

The teenagers won 10m Synchro gold on their European Championship debut in Kiev, as well as winning Elite Junior gold, European Junior silver and Grand Prix silver during a whirlwind 2017.

Sheffield Diving win Performance Club of the Year

Sheffield Diving has a great track record in producing top class athletes, both at national and international level. They have had Olympic representation at every Games since 1992.

Over the last 12 months, Sheffield Diving has had many successes, from national events to Olympic selection. Their head coach Tom was also selected to be one of the national coaches for the England Talent Diving pathway.

The club has fully engaged with the England Talent pathway supporting all camps, competitions and conferences. Sheffield deliver coach education, and have a fantastic programme available for coaches – running qualification and CPD courses as well as informal workshops for their own coaches and coaches from other clubs.

Nicola Smith said: “It feels really good to be recognised for our achievements this year, we weren’t expecting it.

“It is especially nice for it to be presented by Leon who is one of our club members. It’s been a really good year for us. We’ve had six athletes on the senior GB team, which is the most for a number of years.

“One of our divers got bronze at the Europeans and another finished top 10 in the world. It’s been a really successful year.”