YOUNG DALEY FACES WORLD'S ELITE IN SHEFFIELD
Young British Diving sensation Tom Daley, at just 13 years
of age, may be small in stature but he will call on his immense
talent and potential when he faces the world's best divers
as part of a British team competing at the inaugural FINA
Diving World Series in Sheffield this weekend
The Plymouth teenager was only due to compete on Saturday
with team mate Callum Johnstone (City of Leeds) in the 10m
Synchro event but an injury to Pete Waterfield (Southampton
Diving) and withdrawal yesterday means Daley will also stand
alone against the sport's elite in the 10m Individual event
on Sunday.
The FINA Diving World Series will see the world's best divers
compete for international honours in Sheffield less than a
year out from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and with an entry
list that features two Olympic Champions, China's Minxia Wu
and Jingjing Guo, as well as four additional Olympic medallists,
12 World Champions and 24 World Championship medallists, the
competition promises to showcase the very best of diving.
The world's highest ranked divers have been invited to compete
in the event and number one ranked nation China will be there
in force but will face competition from Canada, Germany, Australia,
Russia, the USA, Italy as well as a young British contingent.
Divers will compete for honours in the 3m and 10m individual
and synchro events at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre
before they the series continues in Mexico (8th-9th September)
and China (15th-16th September).
For Daley the opportunity to stand against such a high-class
field is something that excites the youngster despite the
fact that his knowledge of the divers he faces, until now,
has largely been based what he has seen on television.
With the promise of home crowd support, however, and the
chance to compete against a field of diving talent that will
undoubtedly include many of those vying for next year's Olympic
titles.
"I'm really excited about competing against the world's
top divers and it's an honour to be selected," said Daley.
"When I found out Pete had withdrawn I was sad for him
because he's a great diver and then I realised I would be
diving in his place. My heart started thumping and I got very
excited, it was a great feeling though."
Daley isn't setting himself a target but will simply use
the competition to build on his experience as he has only
two international competitions beneath him to date.
"I plan to enjoy diving in front of a home crowd at
Sheffield, it's a great venue and a fitting place to have
the world's best divers, and simply aim do my very best against
such a quality field," Daley explained.
"I can't control what the other divers are doing, I
just have to make sure I dive to the best of my ability. They've
got it all to do, I plan to relax and then anything can happen."
British Diving National Performance Director Steve Foley
is excited about seeing Daley and his young squad in action
against what he feels is by far the strongest field ever to
gather for an international diving event.
"This meet is going to be a learning process for young
Tom but you just never know what he might do," said Foley.
"He's just returned from a break, because his preparation
is geared to Olympic qualification in February, so he hasn't
been off the boards as much as usual but we'll have to see
what happens.
"He'll be up against the top eight divers in the world
off the platform and whatever he does will be good enough
given the fact he's just 13-years-old and has nowhere like
the experience the other guys have.
"Tom has a great opportunity though to not only impress
the judges but also the opposition who he will face over the
next few years. This could well be the line up for next year's
Olympic final so to be part of that is an outstanding achievement
for someone so young.
"We hope that our divers will be in the mix next year
and in Peter and Leon Taylor we have real opportunities if
they can recover fully from their injuries."
Foley is in no doubt of the quality his athletes will face
but sees it as a great opportunity for their development as
well as a chance to overcome, at the right time, any nerves
the young team has against such opposition.
""We've got a lot of young divers competing this
weekend such as Daley, Johnstone, Ben Swain (City of Sheffield),
Tonia Couch (Plymouth Diving) and Stacie Powell (Southampton
Diving) and they have a real opportunity to test themselves
against the very best," said Foley.
"They maybe a little awed at first but they'll relax
and the next time they face the likes again they'll have very
little fear or nerves. It's part of the process that will
lead our divers to Olympics next year and beyond, and opportunities
like this are unique.
"The British contingent will be looking to gain valuable
experience while hopefully trying to knock off one of the
top six teams in the world in the synchro events or the odd
place in the individual competitions. This will give them
a lot of confidence ahead of the FINA World Cup in February
where we'll be looking to qualify Britain for the Olympics.
"I don't think there's ever been a competition of this
calibre in this country. It's a who's who of diving packed
with Olympic, World Commonwealth and World Cup Champions.
China's Guo Jingjing has won an amazing eight World Championship
medals and in any sport that is a phenomenal achievement.
"It's great that we can dive in this type of competition
with the support of a host nation behind us. It will provide
a real lift and give confidence as we look to Beijing and
London 2012."
Waterfield's withdrawal comes as a bitter blow as he seemed
on the road to recovery from a rib injury before breaking
down in training again this week.
The Olympic silver medallist, who was married last weekend,
spent six weeks out with a rib injury earlier this summer
but seemed to be on the mend and was enjoying training once
again before suffering a reoccurrence.
His departure is a real loss to the squad of eight but National
Performance Director Steve Foley is optimistic that Waterfield
will be able to resolve the issue and regain his fitness ahead
of the Olympics next year in Beijing.
"The twisting movement Pete undergoes in his routines
has detached a muscle from his ribs and it is very painful,"
explained Foley. "Originally, it kept him out for six
weeks, he eased himself back into it and was going well but
it's happened all over again so he'll have to sit this weekend
out.
"We need to get to the bottom of the problem now to
make sure it doesn't happen again. The positive thing to come
from this is that it's happened now. If we can get Peter injury
free he will have long enough to prepare for the World Cup
in February and therefore give himself a great opportunity
to qualify for the Olympics individually and as part of a
synchro team."
* Tickets are on sale via the ASA Awards website and are
priced £10 for adults per day, £5 for children
per day or weekend tickets are priced at £15 for adults
and £7.50 for children.
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