I swapped gymnastics for diving – then competed at the Commonwealth Games

Clara Kerr made the switch from gymnastics to diving at the age of 11 and has never looked back.

She was spotted by a diving coach while she was doing flips at a new pool which had opened in Aberdeen.

Six years later she was representing Scotland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Now Kerr is urging other young gymnasts to consider the switch as Scottish Swimming and Aquatics GB launch a talent transfer programme aimed at encouraging young athletes from other sports to try diving.

Kerr had started gymnastics in primary school, but then her dad took her to the opening of a new diving pool in Aberdeen.

"One of the coaches at an open session saw me and asked if I wanted to come and try some lessons. It's really all gone from there," she said.

Diving and gymnastics share a lot of the same shapes such as straight, tuck and pike layouts.

They both rely on forward and backward somersaults, complex twists, and mid-air body control.

"Since I did gymnastics, I was able to do different flips and somersaults, and I just find it quite fun being able to jump from the different boards into the pool.

"There are a lot of transferable skills, so it was nice having almost a little head start," she said.

When she was 18 years old, Kerr competed in springboard diving at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, coming eighth in her event.

She said: "It was the biggest crowd I've ever been in front of. There were around 5,000 people.

"I remember walking out for the first time and it was absolutely terrifying.

"It wasn't quite a home crowd, but being in Birmingham meant a lot of family and friends could come along, which made it really special.

"It really fuelled me to want to keep going and keep getting better and see where I could go from that."

This year the 23-year-old won silver in the 1m Women's Open in Edinburgh.

Kerr is a final-year medical student at Edinburgh University.

She supports the new initiative from Scottish Swimming and Aquatics GB which aims to get more young people from other sports into diving.

They are targeting athletes aged 12 to 16 from sports such as gymnastics, trampolining, dance, freestyle skiing, cheerleading and other acrobatic disciplines.

Kerr said gymnastics and other acrobatic sports provided "really strong fundamentals" for divers.

"You've already got a lot of the building blocks and just need to develop them further."