Talent search launched to find new Olympic divers
Aquatics GB is recruiting 12 to 16-year-olds from acrobatic sports for a programme aimed at developing future Olympic divers for the 2032 Brisbane Games. It matters because the scheme seeks to widen the pool of talent and build on Britain’s recent success in Olympic diving.
The Diving-Gymnastics Talent Transfer Programme will assess candidates at Ponds Forge in Sheffield on 8 November, where selected athletes would train alongside established divers, including Paris medallists Yasmin Harper and Anthony Harding. Training is expected to start at eight hours a week, rising to 16 to 20 hours around school; organisers say about 60% of diving training takes place on land.
- Aquatics GB is seeking young acrobatic athletes to become divers.
- The programme aims to develop competitors for Brisbane 2032.
- Selected athletes will train at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge.
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Olympic diving combines acrobatic movement with precise entry into the water. Britain has a strong recent record in the sport, and Aquatics GB is the organisation responsible for its national diving programme.
The programme is designed to spot skills that young people may have developed in gymnastics or other acrobatic sports and help them transfer those skills to diving. Yasmin Harper and Anthony Harding are British divers who won medals at the Paris Olympics; training alongside experienced athletes could help newcomers learn the sport.
The 2032 Games in Brisbane are several years away, so athletes identified now would have time to develop. Broadening the pool of potential divers may help Britain build on its recent Olympic results.