Noah Penman is well on his way to making a splash in the Scottish diving scene after recently being crowned the Scottish junior champion for platform.
The Aberdeen Grammar pupil competed in the 14 to 15 years age group at the national competition in Edinburgh, with his performance on the one metre board being better than he could have hoped for.
His emphatic final score helped see off divers from all age groups, as he became the first diver from Aberdeen Diving Club to win a national title.
The 14-year old said: “It was unexpected, at the time I didn’t even know I had won it.
“It was just after I had finished my composition and I was getting the medal, the woman who gave me it said that I had won something else which was Scottish junior champion.
“I was diving really well and getting really high scores, but it was a shock. In the end, I won quite convincingly.
“I’ve had big scores at smaller competitions, but definitely not in a national competition before.”
At the weekend, the Scottish National & Open Diving Championships returned for the first time since 2019.
Full results👉 https://t.co/bT0RGL6mWD
Catch some of the action here👇 pic.twitter.com/FeGUdW4Pwc
— Scottish Swimming (@ScottishSwim) December 6, 2021
Penman trains up to six times a week at Aberdeen Sports Village with his Aberdeen Diving Club coach Anna Sless, and is proud to have put the Granite city on the diving map.
He added: “It’s pretty cool and a really good feeling to get Aberdeen into the mix at a national competition.
“It’s great to have the title now and I can keep striving forward and keeping improving.
“Hopefully I can work towards competing at harder competitions, but also just keep having fun with my diving too.”
Eyes on future prizes
Winning the Scottish junior title is not the only success that the young diver has had this week.
Penman dominated the ASV Championships on Tuesday, becoming the 3 metre Aberdeen Club champion by 120 points.
He now has his sights set on future competitions at home and abroad, starting with the largest diving tournament in Europe which takes place in Eindhoven in February.
The diver said: “I’m looking forward to going to Eindhoven, hopefully Covid doesn’t mess that up, and then on to the British Elites which is the big one for me.
“Going abroad can be quite different, especially when I went to Croatia because that was an outdoor pool which was a completely different experience.
“Eindhoven is indoor so it won’t be quite so different, but competing abroad is really exciting.
“I’m just hoping to keep doing well and to bring some more medals back home.”
Penman rivalry
The young diver is delighted to have made his family his proud with his title winning achievement, and admits that the Penman’s are a competitive family – especially between him and his siblings.
The diver is not the only Penman to represent Scotland, as older sister Jenna was recently capped for the under-19’s women’s football team after a successful start to her maiden SWPL 1 season with Aberdeen Women.
