ASA LAUNCHES DIVING INITIATIVE FOR KIDS
Olympic diving medallists Leon Taylor and Pete Waterfield
today launched a new Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) initiative
designed to introduce young children to Britain's successful
Olympic sport of diving.
Flip n Fun is the brand new diving FUNdamentals programme,
developed by the ASA and designed to introduce children aged
five to 11 to the basics of a sport that has achieved Olympic,
Commonwealth and World success over the last three years.
As the first stage of six within the ASA's Long Term Athlete
Development model for diving, the programme is structured
to teach children a series of basic movements and skills in
the water and on dry land.
Integrated into the new National Plan for Teaching Swimming,
set to be launched in September, Flip n Fun is also available
as a standalone programme and can be taught from the poolside
(in pools with a minimum depth of 1.8m) with no need for specialist
diving equipment, which means it can be taught at hundreds
of school pools and facilities nationwide.
As Diving looks to draw youngsters into the sport and unearth
the champions of tomorrow, Flip n Fun provides the perfect
starting point to a development pathway designed to nurture
talent, reward and motivate, and provide opportunities to
compete.
ASA Chief Executive David Sparkes unveiled the initiative
at the Queen Mother Centre in Westminster this morning and
believes it has the potential to unearth future Olympians.
"I hope this new initiative will stimulate interest
in diving and encourage more young children to give it a go,"
he said. "The brilliant thing about Flip n Fun is it
can be incorporated into regular swimming lessons which provides
a safe environment for children to try diving.
"Ultimately we expect some of the children that go through
the Flip n Fun programme will go on excel in the sport and
be part of our national teams."
Children from St Matthews Primary School were among the first
to try out the new Flip n Fun programme and gave a demonstration
of the basic skills at today's launch. Junior divers from
the Crystal Palace Diving School were also on hand to show
what can be achieved through the new programme.
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