As Britain’s best divers prepare for the FINA Diving World Series (Sheffield leg) their coaches and British Diving support staff are working twice as hard to make sure athletes are ready to come face to face with the world’s top divers.

For every hour a diver spends training for the best dives possible it is their coach that is behind them, guiding and encouraging them to that ultimate performance. With the FINA Diving World Series just over a week away British coaches explain the importance of the competition for their athletes.

Adam Sotheran is Head Coach for the City of Sheffield Diving Club and coaches Olympic silver medallist Leon Taylor. The City of Sheffield Diving Club train at the venue for the FINA Diving World Series and with four athletes on this year’s squad Sotheran explains how important this event is for the sport in the UK. 

“It is a great show piece for the sport in the UK,” Sotheran said. “With the top eight divers travelling to the city the competition will simulate an Olympic final for many of these athletes.

“Ponds Forge is a great venue to hold the competition. The area around the diving pit is large and allows spectators to have a good view of the event. The footage from last year’s competition looked great and it was a fantastic way to promote the sport in this country.

“City of Sheffield athletes that will be competing this year will find a lot of the pressure off them. All athletes find themselves under pressure at international competitions but being in your home pool takes that off you. They will find this competition is a great stepping stone to the upper echelons of international diving.

“Nick [Robinson-Baker] and Ben [Swain] used last year’s competition to announce themselves to the world. They dealt with the pressure extremely well and it was the starting point for their success in 2008.

“I think they surprised everyone by just how good they are. This year I am expecting to see them continue their momentum and build up to Beijing and it would not surprise me if they went out and won another medal.”

High Performance Manager for British Diving Kim White has been working for national governing body for the past 11 years and understands the pressure the athletes will face in a competition like this.

“It is great that we can get our divers used to competing against the world’s best on home soil,” White said. “We can give our divers competition exposure and experience and this will help towards their preparations for Beijing.

“The British divers are in the middle of hard training and it will be positive for the team to get in some good performances while in this phase. The FINA Diving World Series simulates a big competition for the athletes in terms of the environment and TV coverage, I am expecting the athletes to cope with this well and it will give them a good grounding before the Olympics this summer.”

Plymouth Diving Head Coach Andy Banks coaches 13-year-old Thomas Daley and Sarah Barrow and has seen his athletes show significant progress since competing at the event in 2007.
 
“Last year’s event was psychologically a turning point for many of the nation’s divers,” Banks said. “They competed on the world stage in front of a home crowd with confidence and this started their success in 2008.

“Many of the divers from the 2007 FINA Diving World Series went on to gain success at the World Cup in Beijing and I know a lot of them are really looking forward to this year’s event.

“The competition provides a great opportunity for the country’s elite divers to compete against the world’s best. The influence of home support on a high pressure event like this will be key to the success of the British athletes.”

-ENDS-

The FINA Diving World Series (Sheffield) takes place at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre on 24th and 25th May 2008.

Ben Swain (City of Sheffield)
Nicholas Robinson-Baker (City of Sheffield)
Thomas Daley (Plymouth Diving)
Peter Waterfield (Southampton Diving)
Blake Aldridge (Southampton Diving)
Jodie McGroarty (City of Sheffield)
Tandi Gerrard (City of Leeds)
Hayley Sage (City of Sheffield)
Stacie Powell (Southampton Diving)
Sarah Barrow (Plymouth Diving)
Monique McCarroll (Southampton Diving)

Staging of the FINA Diving World Series involves funding partners: UK Sport, British Swimming, Sheffield City Council, Yorkshire South and Sheffield International Venues - Ponds Forge International Sports Centre.

For further details contact British Swimming Media Assistant Gemma Field on 01509 632262, 07917 726431 or email gemma.field@swimmng.org

British Swimming is the National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water in Great Britain.  It is responsible internationally for the high performance representation of the sport. The members of British Swimming are the three Home Countries national governing bodies of England (Amateur Swimming Association), Scotland (Scottish Amateur Swimming Association) and Wales. (Welsh Amateur Swimming Association)  British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

UK Sport works in partnership with national governing bodies and distributes National Lottery funding each year through the World Class Events Programme to support their bidding and staging costs, as well as providing specialist technical support. Since 1997, UK Sport has supported more than 80 events of World, European and Commonwealth status
www.uksport.gov.uk

Sheffield City Council's Major Sports Events Unit have attracted this event to the City and work with other major sports events owners to attract national and international events to the city - on average more than 30 each year.

Sheffield is committed to hosting a full programme of sports events throughout the year and it is the sheer number and diversity of events that underpins Sheffield as an events capital.  The City's programme enhances Sheffield's image on the national and international stage, in addition to providing huge economic benefit to the city.

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