DIVERS SHAPING UP FOR MELBOURNE CHALLENGE
Britain's divers have arrived in Australia for their preparation
camp ahead of this month's World Championships in Melbourne.
The team of 11 divers began preparations at their Perth base
this morning and will spend the next nine days removing the
cobwebs of the day-long travel from the UK before ensuring
they're in the best shape to face international diving's elite
from the 19th March.
While in Perth the team will be put through their paces by
a team of experienced British coaches under the watchful eye
of National Performance Director Steve Foley.
"We arrived last night and this morning is our first
hit out," explained Foley. "It's a perfect opportunity
for our divers to prepare in the best environment. We've got
temperatures of above 40Celsius and the facilities are superb.
"Everyone on the team is just so looking forward to
the competition. We have a perfect set up at our camp in Perth
and that will take the pressure off. We have a group here
that are happy and ready to finish off their World Championship
journey."
Britain's divers will be looking to emulate the performances
of two years ago in Montreal which saw Britain secure a bronze
in the Men's 10m Synchro courtesy of Leon Taylor (City of
Sheffield) and Peter Waterfield (Southampton Diving).
But Taylor and Waterfield will have to wait a little longer
before adding the finishing touches to their routines as Taylor
is yet to join the group in Perth.
"We're missing Leon Taylor at the moment but he will
join us later in the week," explained Foley. "He's
still recovering from a back injury and has also got a couple
of exams to undertake but he's such an experienced athlete
that when he gets here and the adrenalin starts pumping he'll
be fine."
The British team hasn't been without its problems and in
January experienced Olympian Tony Ally (City of Sheffield)
was forced to withdraw from the squad after rupturing the
cruciate ligament in his left knee.
The 33-year-old suffered the injury while giving a demonstration
to a group of young divers and now faces the long road to
recovery in time for the Beijing Olympics next year.
However, Ally's withdrawal means a World Championship squad
place for 19-year-old Ben Swain from City of Sheffield and
Foley says he's been working hard to go someway to filling
the void left by Ally.
The camp will provide a mixture of workouts for the athletes.
The first couple of days will be about getting over the jetlag
before they're put through a couple of hard sessions which
will be tougher than they normally face at home.
"When we get into Melbourne we'll have really light
sessions where we'll concentrate on the list dives they'll
be looking to do in the competition," said Foley.
"And it's difficult to gauge how we're going to go.
There is just so much at stake. For the divers this is also
like an Olympic trial where they will be looking to qualify
Britain for next summer's Beijing Olympics.
"It's going to be interesting to see how the athletes
deal with the added pressure. The guys are looking pretty
good at the moment. We've had a few injuries but we've got
time to bring them up to scratch before the meet starts."
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