It’s been a busy month for the White Rock Divers.
The club travelled to three competitions across Canada: provincial championships in South Surrey, the Mark LePoole International Invitational and the Polar Bear Invitational in Winnipeg, where Earl Marriott Secondary student Amelia Semple, 14, qualified for international competition for the first time with her diving performance.
“It’s a very good step for her – she’s got some very strong dives and beautiful lines,” White Rock Divers head coach Igor Kopecky said.
While Semple can compete on all platform towers – the five-, seven- or 10-metre – she usually performs from the 7M platform – which is still about 25 feet above the water.
She now gets to travel to Great Britain and leaves April 9 for about a week, Kopecky said.
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“It’s a good little international test.”
A diver with the club since she was seven years old, Semple trains six days a week in the gym and pool.
White Rock Divers has grown tremendously over the past four years despite COVID-19 and has 11 divers qualified to attend the summer nationals in Montreal in July, including Semple – the most the club has ever qualified, according to one of its board members and founder, Bev Boys.
“Seeing Amelia grow as a person as well as have good results certainly makes it very enjoyable to coach – and to watch,” Kopecky said.
“We’ve got a great team.
“The kids all support each other – you can see them cheering each other on when they learn new dives… there’s a great camaraderie – when we come back from competition, the kids all have hoarse voices from cheering each other on. It’s a very close-knit team.”
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tricia.weel@peacearchnews.com
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