DIVERS GATHER FOR GAMES PREPARATION
England's divers leave for Australia on Friday where the
largest ever contingent to contest a Commonwealth Games will
gather to conclude their preparations.
With a team membership of 27 in total, 17 of which are athletes
who have qualified to represent England at next month's Commonwealth
Games in Melbourne, it will be by far the biggest English
team when it descends on Adelaide for it's preparation camp.
National Performance Director Steve Foley will head up a
camp that he describes as being integral for some of the younger,
less experienced athletes who will face a different type of
venue as well as a contrasting level of competition when they
arrive in Melbourne.
"The pool we'll be using in Adelaide is a long pool,"
explained Foley. "This is important as the diving pit
in Melbourne is a massive 75m swimming pool with a double
bulkhead.
"Many of the divers won't have experienced a pool of
that size before so to train beforehand in a similar pool
will be a great help to them - it will allow the athletes
to hone their spotting skills and improve their aerial skills
in such a facility. It's particularly important for the platform
divers."
Foley's designs for the camp are much more than simply tightening
of routines.
"The main aims of the camp are to allow the divers to
acclimatise, recover from jetlag and to formulate as a team,"
said Foley. "We've never had a team this big and it's
going to be a real test for us.
"We'll be using the camp for people to get to know one
another, get used to living with each other and to determine
the final rooming arrangements. There's a big age range on
this team - we've got the likes of Katie Hamilton at 14 and
then Mark Shipman at 33.
"We've made it clear to the younger athletes that they're
not just there for the experience. It may be this is the only
Commonwealth Games they'll attend, so they will need to live
it, earn it and treat it like no other."
One of those youngsters aiming to make the most out of the
opportunity the Commonwealth Games provides is young Katie
Hamilton of Sheffield.
The former gymnast has only been diving for three years and
will compete at her first Commonwealth Games in the 1m and
3m individual springboard events.
"It's my first senior international so I'm going out
to enjoy it and to take in the experience," said Hamilton.
"It's inspiring to me to train with the more experienced
divers. They're my idols and they've been out there and done
it before - there's no reason why I can't do that either.
They really keep me going.
It won't be Hamilton's first competition in Australia and
she already has an impressive record of results.
"I competed in Perth last year at the Australian Elite
Nationals where I finished first in the 3m and 1m events.
I'll draw from that experience at the holding camp to put
my competition head on," said Hamilton.
One of the more experienced divers on the team will be defending
10m Platform Champion Peter Waterfield of Southampton.
"I'm feeling good ahead of the Games," said Waterfield.
"I'm injury-free at the moment, which is always good,
and hopefully I'll stay that way so I can try to defend the
gold I won in Manchester four years ago.
"I'll be using the holding camp to sharpen my skills
while easing off on training to make sure I'm rested and ready.
I'll be concentrating on getting sharp, enjoying the experience
and relaxing before competition.
Waterfield will have it all to do again in Melbourne if he
is to defend his title and will be up against some very tough
competitors including close team mate Leon Taylor of Sheffield.
"In certain events I'll be up against the current World
Champion in Canadian Alex Despatie and he'll be hard to beat.
It will also be tough facing the Australians in their back
yard but in the Commonwealth finals anything can happen,"
said Waterfield.
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