Harrogate District Diving Club returned to Harrogate this week after more than three years of disruption caused by covid and the refurbishment of the Hydro.

The club has an enviable record of producing talent, including Olympic champion Jack Laugher. It also caters for people who want to dive for fun and runs DiveAbility sessions for children with additional needs.

But it has been a frustrating few years: the delayed re-opening of the Hydro meant club members had to travel to Shipley to practice, not knowing when they would be able to return to their home pool.

Numbers dwindled but the new look club returned to the newly named Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre last week.

A host of new appointments have been made, including Albany Thompson, from Leeds Diving Club, as head coach.

Albany Thompson

New chair Mandy Ward said:

“It’s a brand new start to build the club back up. It’s been a difficult period but the investment in the leisure centre means diving in Harrogate has been secured for at least another 20 years.

“Now we need to get more people aware of it and help the club grow.”

Chloe Blackburn prepares to dive.

The pool, which is run by Brimhams Active, a leisure company controlled by North Yorkshire Council, has a one-metre board, a five-metre board and two three-metre boards.

Many local divers have achieved national coaching positions around the world but Ms Ward said anyone aged six or above who can swim and isn’t afraid of deep water was welcome to join.

For more details email diveharrogate@gmail.com

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Ripon’s Jack Laugher has won his second gold medal for England at the Commonwealth Games.

Laugher clinched the title for the synchronised 3m springboard alongside Anthony Harding this afternoon.

The medal becomes the 27-year-old’s second gold in 24 hours.

Yesterday, Laugher defended his 1m springboard title for a second time at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Birmingham.

The medal was among the first titles on offer in diving at the games.

Laugher took gold after scoring 447.05 to finish 10 points ahead of Australia’s two-time world champion Li Shixin.

Afterwards, he dedicated the victory to his late grandma, Bernice, who died a couple of months ago and lived seven miles away in Sedgley.

He said:

“It’s really special that today I’ve hopefully done her proud. She was my biggest supporter and I think hopefully I have done her, my family, my mum on poolside, my girlfriend’s parents up in the stands, I hope I have done them all proud.”

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Laugher said there was pressure to defend his title, but he was relieved to clinch gold in front of a home crowd.

He added:

“There was loads of pressure coming into here, trying to defend that title that I’ve had for eight years now.

“It was a great performance, very steady, a few mistakes here and there but I’m really, really happy with everything and to do it in front of a home crowd makes it a little sweeter.”

Laugher was joined on the podium by Jordan Houlden who won the bronze medal.

Speaking after his victory, Leanne Jalland, chair of Harrogate District Diving Club, said:

“We are incredibly proud of Jack, he is not just a talented athlete but an excellent ambassador for diving as a sport. Our divers will be eagerly watching and cheering him on during his next events on 3m.

“It’s great to see so much British talent on show during the 2022 Commonwealth Games to inspire the next generation of young divers”

A scuba diving business owner has said plans for a deep diving facility in Knaresborough have been “woefully misunderstood” after the proposals were rejected.

Tim Yarrow, who owns Harrogate-based Diveshack, had planned to build the training pool facility on Thistle Hill.

However, Harrogate Borough Council rejected the plan on the grounds that the proposal would “result in harm to the visual and spatial openness of the green belt”.

Mr Yarrow, who has been a scuba instructor around the world for 30 years, said his facility would have offered an opportunity for “potential local investment”.

He said:

“It is my opinion that the necessity and requirements of a specific training facility for scuba and all it brings with regards to potential further local investment, employment and potential career paths has been woefully misunderstood.”

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The plan would have seen the site at Thistle Hill changed from agricultural land to a deep water diving centre.

Mr Yarrow said that his club, which has been open since 2018, currently trains young and upcoming divers. He said the facility would help to expand this.

However, the council said in its decision notice that the facility was also outside the development limit of any village or settlement.

It said:

“The proposal is for a new tourism and recreational use however the application fails to demonstrate that there is a local need for the facility in this location, that the facility is of a scale and nature appropriate to its location and intended purpose, and that the facility is accessible to the community or catchment population it is intended to serve.”

Harrogate Borough Council has rejected plans for a bespoke scuba diving training pool in Knaresborough.

Tim Yarrow, owner of Harrogate-based Diveshack UK, lodged the plan to build the facility at Thistle Hill in the town.

Mr Yarrow said the proposal offered the district a chance to get a “truly unique” facility.

The plan would have seen the pool built at land at Thistle Hill and see the site changed from agricultural land to a deep water diving centre.

However, the borough council refused the proposal on the grounds that the plan would “result in harm to the visual and spatial openness of the green belt”.

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Council officials added that the site was outside the development limit of any village or settlement.

In a decision notice, the council said:

“The proposal is for a new tourism and recreational use however the application fails to demonstrate that there is a local need for the facility in this location, that the facility is of a scale and nature appropriate to its location and intended purpose, and that the facility is accessible to the community or catchment population it is intended to serve.”

Mr Yarrow, who has been a a scuba instructor around the world for 30 years, told the Stray Ferret previously that the move would help to draw people in from the area and improve access to the sport.

He added that his club, which has been open since 2018, currently trains young and upcoming divers. He said the facility would help to expand this.

Mr Yarrow said:

“The facility proposed will allow access for Diveshack to promote courses tailored to individual needs and timings, taking very little of the land for change of use and no negative impact on the close neighbours of whom all have been consulted and are in support.

“It has been drawn up in a sympathetic way to the environment with materials and energy usage and aims to be the best, most eco designated scuba training facility in the North.

“It will allow access to an amazing sport to numerous people who would maybe never have thought they could ever give it a try.”

The Hydro swimming pool in Harrogate will close for nine months on Friday ahead of a £11.8m refurbishment.

The facility will get a two-storey extension as well as a new entrance, cafe and reception area.

There will also be new diving board equipment, a new fitness suite and the changing areas will be upgraded.

A computer generated image of how the Hydro will look.

The existing gas boilers will be replaced with air source heat pumps and 250 solar panels, as well as new metering and energy monitoring and control systems.

The pool is run by Brimhams Active on behalf of Harrogate Borough Council.

It means until January, the nearest available council-run pools will be in Starbeck, Knaresborough, Patelely Bridge and Ripon. Opening times are available on the Brimhams Active website.

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The project will be carried out in phases, with the refurbished pool hall and changing rooms re-opening in January 2023 and the ‘dry side’ activity space by April 2023.

How the new Knaresborough Pool will look.

Work to build the new Knaresborough Pool will start on April 26. The current facility will remain open.

Wallace Sampson, Harrogate Borough Council’s chief executive, said:

“This investment at both the Hydro in Harrogate and a new facility in Knaresborough follows our investment at the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon and shows our commitment to providing first-class leisure facilities for Harrogate district residents.”

Harrogate District Diving Club has said the looming nine-month closure of Harrogate Hydro will be worth the short-term disruption.

The club, which has more than 50 members and helped produce Olympic champion Jack Laugher, faces the prospect of not being able to return to its home pool until next year. The Hydro is due to close for major refurbishment on April 8.

Some divers will train at other venues, including Shipley diving pool. Others will stop training altogether until the Hydro reopens. Since the announcement of the Hydro’s closure two divers have left the club.

Divers can also use Jennyfield Styan Community Centre for dry land sessions using a full size diving board. These sessions allow divers to dive off the board onto a crash mat.

Harrogate Hydro, Jennyfield Drive.

The diving boards have not been in use since November 2020 due to structural problems.

The renovation work will include new diving facilities at the same heights as before. Club chair Leanne Jalland said:

“We welcome the closure and renovations, whilst it is not ideal to be away from the pool in the short-term. The current diving facilities were at the end of their life and needed to be replaced.

“A little short-term disruption without a pool while the new diving facilities are being rebuilt is worth it because the new facilities secure the future of diving in Harrogate for a few more decades.”

Ms Jalland added the club had been preparing for a loss in funds due to the work and had secured funding from Sport England to fund hiring space at other diving venues.

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She said:

“We are passionate about introducing more children in our community to diving and while the Hydro is closed that will not stop. Considering that during the start of the pandemic we only had a dozen divers left, we’ve managed to grow the club considerably during a difficult time period with limited facilities and resources.

“So imagine what we can do with our new facility. We can’t wait for next year, the future is looking bright for our club.”

The £11.8 million refurbishment will give the Hydro a new two-storey extension, entrance, cafe and reception area.

There will also be a new fitness suite and the changing areas will be upgraded.

Mark Tweedie, managing director of Brimhams Active, which Harrogate Borough Council set up last year to run its leisure facilities, said the plan was to reopen the pool first in nine months time.