Date: 11th November 2014
Location: Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre
Cost: £6.00
Rules: Diving is the sport of diving or falling into the water from a platform or springboard. It requires poise and courage. During the fall, athletes can perform a number of spins, flips and twists before hitting the water at speeds up to 55mph, with as little disturbance as possible. Each dive has an assigned degree of difficulty, upon which their score is based, along with the ease displayed by the athletes. The Springboards are 3 metres high, and their flexibility is fully adjustable. Synchronised competitions see pairs of divers try to coordinate dives with perfect coordination in take off, plunge and entry to the water. Women's pairs must complete five dives, with at least one dive from each category; Forward, Back, Reverse, Inward and Twisting.
The Event:
Olympic Gold Medal London 2012: He Zi and Wu Minxia, China
Comments:
Sarah: It was a bit easier doing the synchro dive compared to the individual, as I had less time to think about it. We just walked to the end, did a quick '3-2-1-go!' and I had to jump, or Ellie would have to do it all again, and would probably punch me for ditching her. Again, I can't emphasise enough how scary it was to even step off the board. If you want to get all technical with us; this feet-first approach unbelievably counts as a proper dive.
Ellie: How amazing would it have been if there was a lovely video of us doing somersaults in synchronicity! Alas, it was not to be. It was just too scary. Thankfully, knowing that your partner was relying on you made it slightly easier - it would have been awful to have seen them jump in and be the one left on the springboard. This is not an event I'm happy to leave behind; not because I enjoyed it, quite the opposite actually - I want to conquer the feeling of fear. Maybe one day that video of flips and tucks will exist... probably not though...!
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