DIVING PAIR EYE FURTHER INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS
British divers Nicholas Robinson-Baker and Ben Swain took
to the boards at the inaugural FINA Diving World Series as
a relatively unknown synchro pairing but left the competition
as Britain's only medallists and proved their ability to compete
alongside the world's best.
The pairing were set to compete at their first international
competition at the World Championships in Melbourne in March
2007 but after Robinson-Baker injured his ankle they were
unable to show the world what they could do.
They entered the FINA Diving World Series last September
after working on their partnership for only six months and
they proved their ability as giant killers as they beat Olympic
medallists Germany's Frank Sander and Andreas Wels to the
bronze medal in the 3m Synchro.
The pair looked impressive throughout the competition in
their home pool and showed no signs of nerves as they took
on world and Olympic medallists in a performance that would
begin an excellent six months for the athletes.
"I was really excited going into last year's event,"
Robinson-Baker said. "It was the first time we had competed
in an international on home soil and it was a fantastic atmosphere.
"It proved to be the start of a turn around for us as
a team. We announced our intentions to the world - that we
wanted to beat the best. It was our first major medal and
was the start of a great partnership."
The young diving pair went on to compete at the World Cup
in Beijing in February where they found themselves competing
against the world's best but this time under the pressure
of trying to qualify a place in the 3m synchro for Great Britain
at the Olympics.
The event was the final opportunity to gain qualification
to the Games and the FINA Diving World Series set them up
for the success they gained in China.
"Since the FINA Diving World Series we have gone onto
to become national champions and we finished in fourth place
at the World Cup in Beijing," Robinson-Baker added.
"That was an amazing competition to have been involved
in, there was a lot of pressure on us as we competed first
and knew that if we got a good result this would push the
rest of the team on.
"We had a dream start and we finished in fourth place
just behind the Russians and gained GB a valuable qualification
for the Olympics. I know that seeing that helped the team
onto our best ever result."
All of Britain's top divers have competed in strategically
placed competitions as British Diving's experts prepare the
young athletes for the Olympics this summer.
National Performance Director Steve Foley believes competing
at the FINA Diving World Series will emulate an Olympic final
with the top eight divers in the world competing for the spoils
and Ben Swain is relishing the prospect of competing against
the world's best on home soil.
"Last year we expected to dive well, our training had
been perfect in the lead up and we would have been disappointed
to have come away without a medal," Swain said.
"This year we are more prepared than ever before. We
have the bonus of having more international competition under
our belt and this will help us deal with the pressure of competing
on home soil better.
"This is perfect preparation for the Olympics as only
the top 8 divers in the world will be there and this is a
great opportunity to test ourselves before we try to guarantee
our place for the Olympics at the National Championships in
June.
"We have a plan in place in the run up to the Olympics
and we need to keep that clear in our heads as we enter every
competition in the next few months."
"There are bound to be expectations on us going into
this year's event and there is no reason why we can't go out
and grasp another medal," Robinson-Baker said.
"At internationals we always look to take on Germany.
They are a good team and we always look to beat them but they
are not competing here so we can go into the competition with
an added bit of confidence."
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