Brammer and Heydra Share Spoils in Top-Class SA Diving Champs Showdown

16 April 2026 – Grace Brammer and Bailey Heydra emerged as the dominant forces at the Bombela Concession Company SA Diving Championships in Boksburg, going head-to-head across the springboard events and sharing the honours. Brammer claimed the 3m title with Heydra close behind, while Heydra turned the tables to secure gold in the 1m, with Brammer finishing second.

The US-based duo, who are both studying kinesiology, produced an exceptionally high standard of diving, with both scoring over 300 points in the 3m event. Also recently moved to the USA, Zalika Methula secured the bronze medal in both events.

"I came first in the 1m event last year. However, 3m is my preferred board, so it meant a lot to me this year," said a thrilled Brammer.

"The 3m competition involved a preliminary, semi-final and final with cumulative scoring, and this format requires divers to remain consistent throughout. I achieved a 25-point lead in the preliminary, which helped calm my nerves and remain focused for the semi-final and final," added the 20-year-old Penn State University student.

"Nationals is always a highlight of my year, and after competing in this competition for 10 years, I feel a sense of huge accomplishment to win against the country's top divers. I'm already looking forward to coming back next year."

For Heydra, who hadn't had the best build-up to the event after struggling with flu, this competition was particularly special because of the rivalry with Brammer.

"It was a really, really fun competition," she said. "Grace and I were great competitors against each other and what's been absolutely awesome is having to fight against her for the titles dive-for-dive. Last year she won the 1m and I won the 3m, and this year it's kind of flipped around, so I won the 1m and she won the 3m and honestly both of the events were absolutely spectacular events, so it was just a great time overall. I love fighting dive-for-dive, it kind of lights up a fire inside you."

Speaking on the quality of the competition, the University of Nevada student added: "To be honest, I do not know the last time South Africa as a country had two divers scoring above 300 points in a 3m final. That's a very good score, even on a world-class stage and I think it means that we're moving in the right direction as a sport, and hopefully we can get two berths for the next Olympic Games. That's the goal."

Heydra was disappointed to have missed out on the 3m synchro event, where she was due to line up alongside Methula, with whom she competed at last year's World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. The 22-year-old had to withdraw after the recurrence of a strained intercostal muscle.

Meanwhile, the men's events were contested by just two divers, with Anele Mthembu and Anathi Shozi sharing the titles between them.

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 Reproduced from Swimming South Africa