WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM TO TARGET OLYMPIC PLACES
A largely experienced British Diving squad will compete
for world honours in Melbourne this March where the team of
11 will also aim to qualify Britain for places at the 2008
Beijing Olympics.
The British Diving squad goes to the FINA World Championships
off the back of a good record after strong performances in
2003 as well as 2005 where they returned with a World bronze
in the Men's 10m Synchro courtesy of Leon Taylor and Peter
Waterfield.
Despite Waterfield (Southampton Diving) and Taylor (City
of Sheffield) being forced to spend the past eight months
apart due to an injury to the latter, the pair are now back
in training as a unit and an impressive outing at last month's
British Championships suggests they will be in contention
yet again come March.
National Performance Director for British Diving Steve Foley
is excited about the prospects facing the squad.
"It was good to see Leon (Taylor) back in action once
again in December after his long lay off," said Foiley.
"He and Pete (Waterfield) looked great together in the
10m Synchro and you wouldn't believe they hadn't dived together
in such a long time.
"If they dive like that in Melbourne the other nations
are going to have their work cut out. They are genuine medal
contenders."
But Foley expects other talent within the squad to rise to
the top and has confidence that British Diving can achieve
its ultimate aim of gaining qualification to the Beijing Olympics.
"We have other divers who will be in contention for
podium places but for us the World Championships will be about
ensuring we qualify as many places as possible for the Olympics.
That has to be our focus," he said.
"I'm excited about our chances. There will be a lot
riding on the event as it also provides divers with the first
of just two chances to qualify their nation for the Beijing
2008 Olympics by finishing top 12 in the individual events
and top three, plus host nation, in the synchro events.
"There is a second opportunity later in the year but
Melbourne will allow us to gauge where the divers are as we
look towards next year's Olympics. If we can qualify at the
first time of asking we can concentrate all of our preparations
on conditioning for Beijing."
Foley feels the experience of the group selected off the
back of last month's British Championships will have a big
bearing on the eventual outcome in Melbourne but he's also
looking forward to seeing the younger divers stand up to the
occasion.
"It's pleasing to see this squad going to the World
Championships. There are only two people within the squad
who haven't been to an event of this calibre before and everyone
has been to a Commonwealth Games or World Cup event so it's
quite an experienced group," said Foley.
"Within the group there's a nice blend of the likes
of Taylor, Waterfield and Tony Ally (City of Sheffield) along
with a crop of young athletes coming through.
"These younger athletes are very talented and it really
does bode well for 2012. We'll see a future generation perform
in Melbourne and that's always important. We've had a period
of transition due to retirements and we've had to fill some
pretty big holes that were left behind but we're getting there
now and this group represents that."
Foley was impressed by performances at the British Championships
in Manchester last month and is seeing the fruits of the programme
coming through and adopting the traits he feels are needed
to be successful on the biggest stage.
"The nationals were very pleasing for me because we
incorporated a new competition structure to promote consistency
of performance and I saw the athletes rise to that,"
explained Foley.
"We need consistency to achieve at the highest levels
of competition. You need to perform well in the preliminary
round of dives in order to make a final and then back it up
again to attack podium places. Our competition structure reflects
that.
"The cream came to the top in practically every event
and stayed there which is what we were looking for. The team
will have to follow that principle in Melbourne if we are
to achieve our aims."
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