MASTERS DIVER

My apologies for the delay in getting this out. The intention was to send it out following the Summer Masters in Sheffield but after business coming to a standstill during and immediately after the Iraq conflict it suddenly took off in July and has not stopped for breath since. I hope everyone else is enjoying this upsurge too.

When it was slow I decided to expand into other markets and my business commitments are now such that I have decided not to stand for the position of Masters Director next year. It also seems a sensible time to take leave of the position after holding it for about 7 years. New blood will be good for masters so can any interested parties please make themselves known to John and myself. I wanted to give a little time for interest to be shown hence my announcing this now. Rest assured I will not be dropping out of the sport and will be only too pleased to assist ‘from the touchline’ or at the end of the telephone.

The final comment before we get down to the diving business is that anyone who is looking for an investment opportunity and has given up on the volatile share market and the low return GB buy-to-let market should give me a call as I may have something of interest to you. I now know how the late Victor Kiam felt about Remington!

Enough of that, and on to the diving.

As usual, I ask that you circulate a copy around your clubs both to other Masters divers and indeed to your club secretaries. Can the non-GB recipients also pass this on to their administrators and put on your national websites if possible.

Can you make a note of the diary dates just below here so that you don’t miss them.

We have now agreed all the dates until the end of 2004. Finalising venues is causing a few headaches so there may be a few changes to venues from those previously mentioned. Hopefully we will have full details by Manchester.

If anyone wants to be put on the mailing list by Email please let me know as that is the quickest way to get it out direct to the divers.

Anyone who wants to write an article/ letter is also welcome.

Get these dates in the diary NOW.

2003
Nov 15/16	British Winter Masters	Manchester	See Article
2004
Mar 20/21	British Spring Masters
May 8/9	British Summer Masters
Jun 3/13	World Masters	Riccione,Italy	See Article
Nov 20/21	British Winter Masters
2005
July 15/24	World Masters Games	Edmonton Canada

We go back to Manchester for the Winter Masters and our end of year ‘fun’ competitions. We have had the ‘hat’ tournament unchanged for a number of years, so this year we propose to vary it – details are due out anytime. We have liaised with divers about changes so I please ask you to give it your best shot and keep talking to us. We can’t please all of the people all of the time but we will try to get the balance right.

If anyone has any great ideas please speak to either me or John.

Entry forms are out so get them back soon. They are on the website if you need more or contact Lesley. I have heard through the grapevine that Mike Bayes has already got his in so there is no excuse for anyone!

Due to my work commitments I have had to pass over arrangements for the evening do on the Saturday night but rest assured that one is planned.

The dates are now out. The competitions are on the dates above and more details are on the website (see below).

There is training on the two days before so it looks like the best arrangement is to travel out on 31 May and back on 7 June.

Best way is probably get a flight to Milan and then the train to Ancona drops you off at Riccione – about 2.5 hours if I remember right. Alternatively fly to Rimini or Bologna. Last time I went via Greece which I wouldn’t recommend, as it is 25 hours on the boat – and it’s not the QE2! I arrived in Italy tired, hungover and minus the shirt that I’d lost playing blackjack! At least now I’m an older and wiser man! Until the next time!!

I have been looking forward to this since it was first announced as being in Riccione – a real relaxed atmosphere which helps performances in the pool. 1995 was brilliant and I am sure 9 years later it will be the same. And it’s the Worlds so our friends from the USA will be there and hopefully a few from the Southern hemisphere. Make sure that you have a brolly though as sunshine turns into thunderstorms within seconds.

Jenni is looking at the options for travel and accommodation so confirmation of your likely interest will be helpful in both this and deciding our level of coaching provision. Please Email Jenni and me as soon as possible. You will not be committed to anything.

Also can coaches who would be interested in being considered as one of our funded personnel please let me know. I have had a couple of expressions of interest so far and if necessary divers going to the meet can vote on whom they prefer. I envisage that we will need either 3 or 4 coaches but I need to know from divers who plan to go. I would like to firm up on coaches by the November meet in Manchester.

We went back home. That was how most people saw it. After quite a few years not going to Sheffield we went back and it was great. I think that the standard of diving was some of the best I have seen at Masters level. There were more personal bests than ever. Well done to all for making it a great comp.

Problem is that we struggled with the splat of the weekend but overall it was worth the sacrifice. So the Steel City can still pull the punches and thanks to Adam and the team there for helping us back. We will return to the city but…. Please, not that pub again for the function!

We had divers there from at least 3 continents. As all who have ventured here know everybody is welcome at our events. We run open competitions and with the decline of the European Championships (more on that later) we would love to see more international competition join us. So, make a holiday with us – our weather might be abit dodgy but you will enjoy yourselves. We have a beautiful country that is steeped in history – and the best beer in the world – the Belgians may disagree!

So, enough of the waffle how was the event at Sheffield?

Friday was a training day from about 2pm and many made the most of this although I do recall getting delayed in a pub in Nottingham on the way up – dived like a dream though (or at least I thought I did).

Friday evening for most was light refreshments in the Yorkshire Grey followed by a Chinese meal followed by a nightcap of the best Guinness outside Dublin.

Diving was a brisk start on Saturday at 10am and went smoothly throughout.

Detailed results can be found on the website. The following were triple gold medallists:-

Ladies 16-24	Emily Manktelow	RTW Monson
Ladies 40-49	Asta Girdaukiene	Lithuania
Ladies 80 +	Rene Puddifoot	St Albans
Mens 30-39	Fito Gutierrez	Bradford
Mens 40-49	Tony Hunter	Southampton
Mens 50-59	Jim McNally	Highgate
Mens 60-69	John Deininger	USA

If I have forgotten anyone then I apologise.

It is nice to see that 4 out of the above 7 have not competed in the event in the last 2 years – but all have said that they will be back next time – good on you.

It is great to be getting competitors from outside Britain – Greg Cliffe and Fred Fox have recently enjoyed their second event with us and John Deininger and Asta Girdaukiene enjoyed their time and I hope that we will see them all again. Also Sidney Tibbets seems to fluctuate between the USA and GB and made it back.

The function was at the Bridge in Attercliffe and was good that it got us all together and that there was a late licence (wasn’t there?) – it suffers from being a bit out of town but I think it safe to say that everyone had a good time.

Thanks to Sheffield for organising things and we look forward to going back again.

Thanks as usual to the recorders for their hard work during the weekend. As usual their plea was, and will be in Manchester, GET YOUR DIVE SHEETS IN AS SOON AS YOU GET THERE!

A year ago we asked LEN to change the way that they were proposing to run the European Masters. We were particularly unhappy with the dual venue plan and also the changes in the diving requirements.

The many people who wrote or Emailed expressing the concern received no replies.

Result – there were 72 divers, about half of the usual entries! We have had that sort of number in each of the 3 events that we have run in the last 12 months in the GB.

We normally have 25-30 GB divers in the Euros and the Worlds – apart from the home nation each country has a significantly lower number – there were 15 from Germany who normally have more than us and only one Italian.

According to the results there were no men in the 25-34 age group’s 1 metre event.

We are divers and we know what divers want – we are also adults who make up our own minds about what we spend our time and money doing.

We want to dive, we want to compete and we want to enjoy ourselves doing that.

We are quite happy to work with the swimmers at the event or have it separate - just talk to us and we can make it work.

The GBDF is always willing to enter into dialogue with event organisers, in order to improve and develop Masters competitions. We would particularly welcome discussion with LEN with regard to future championships so that a recurrence of the problems encountered this year can be avoided.

If you learn from this then we can all enjoy better events.

The results are on the website so I have no reason to publish and due to lack of numbers no desire to comment.

Sadly, Fred Jessop passed away in the early hours of Saturday 20 July. Most of you will know Fred and know of his tireless passion for our sport. He lived and breathed it and his enthusiasm has touched a massive number of people from our Olympians to the beginners at Wardle High School who he was teaching in the week he died.

His funeral was a mixture of sadness and remembrance of the good times that we all shared with him. After the funeral the invitation to have a pint at Fred’s local pub (well, you couldn’t imagine anything to do with Fred not being sociable, could you?) was seized upon by many ex-divers/ coaches/ administrators from Oldham and Bury diving clubs together with several from outside the area.

He will be greatly missed from our sport.

Melinda Vickery and Aaron O’Dell got married on Saturday 12 July. Our best wishes to them.

Highgate Diving Club is holding its 75th Jubilee Dinner & Dance at the Hilton Hotel Cobham Surrey on Saturday 6 December 2003. A number of old (maybe even older than McNally?) Highgate members will be attending as well as Peter Waterfield (Current Commonwealth Platform Champion) and his coach Lindsey Fraser. The tickets are £40 per person and £20 will secure your ticket. Contact Jim McNally as soon as possible if you want to come, as numbers are strictly limited.

That’s about it for now. See you in Manchester in November unless you are looking for property investment, in which case give me a call!

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