BRITISH DIVERS SET TO TAKE ON BEST IN EUROPE
The British Diving squad make their return to the international
circuit at the LEN European Diving Championships this week
hungry to replicate their performance at the World Cup last
month.
After qualifying places in every event at the Olympic Games,
the LEN European Diving Championships will provide the 13-strong
squad with their next international challenge as they prepare
for the biggest sporting event in the world this summer.
National Performance Director Steve Foley has been impressed
with the performances from the squad over the last six months
and is anticipating another strong performance in Eindhoven.
"I am looking for the squad to keep up the momentum
of the last few week and I think if we can do that we will
be able to get a few medals at the competition.
"I have been really impressed with the team's morale
and confidence, there is a really good feeling around them
and that is great to see.
"This event will provide a good test for the athletes,
some of them are fatigued and it will be good to see how well
they can switch back into competition mode."
There is one change to the squad that competed at the World
Cup and with Peter Waterfield being rested; Gareth Jones (Southampton)
gets the chance to make an impact in the 10m individual event.
The rest of the British squad will have competed in five international
meets in four months and for Foley this was the best way to
prepare the squad for the tough Olympic year ahead.
"It was part of our plan to get our athletes to do as
many competitions as possible in the lead up to the World
Cup," Foley added. "We strategically planned the
events the athletes would take part in. We wanted to competition
harden them.
"They are a relatively young and inexperienced squad
and by doing more events they are gaining the experience to
give them a good standing on the international stage and it
worked really well for us and we got some outstanding results
while in Beijing.
"We learnt from the Melbourne World Championships last
March; we didn't give the divers much exposure to competitions
in the lead up and we noticed the effect on our results over
there.
"The whole squad has been showing excellent form over
the past few months and for the synchro pairs to have performed
so well in Beijing with that pressure on them was fantastic
to see. The pairs have looked strong for some time and I will
be looking for them to continue their consistency here."
British Champion Ben Swain (City of Sheffield) will have
to put any fatigue he may be feeling to one side as he looks
for success on the boards in the 3m individual and the 3m
synchro.
He has a series of tough competitions under his belt and
goes into this competition with the desire to prove he has
what it takes to take on the best in Europe.
"I am feeling confident about this competition. My main
aim is to get a medal in the 3m synchro event," he said.
"Russia was the only European team to beat Nick and I
at the World Cup and to come here and beat them would be great.
"In the individual event I want to put more consistency
into my performance. I didn't perform well in the prelims
at the World Cup and I want to go out harder and continue
my momentum into the final.
"When we came back from Beijing I went back into my
weights training. We are working on improving my strength
so I can get the same power on the boards that Nick has and
this will help us with our synchronisation."
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