Facilities at World Masters Diving Championships

Divers from all over the world who recently competed at the FINA World Masters Diving Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden felt the need to draw the attention of FINA to a matter of utmost importance to all Masters Divers who compete at FINA events.

First the divers wanted to commend the diligence and enthusiasm of the Swedish diving officials who did their best to host a world class event, but were seriously let down by the facilities that were available to them. Diving facilities at a World Championship event that includes synchronised diving should consist of a minimum of:

• Two one metre springboards
• Two three metre springboards
• One five metre platform
• One seven and a half metre platform
• One ten metre platform.

The Valhalla Pool in Gothenburg only had one three metre springboard which seriously hampered training and meant that the synchronised diving had to be transferred to Jonkoping Pool, around 200 kilometres from Gothenburg. After four days of tough competition at Valhalla, competitors in the synchro events were required to report to the Valhalla pool at 7am when they were bussed to Jonkoping, arriving at around 9am. Competition commenced at 1pm and they were then returned to Gothenburg, arriving after 7pm. This was not conducive to good competition and all the divers felt that they had been let down by the facilities.

A number of divers from different countries asked me to organise the creation of a resolution that could be signed by the divers so they could demonstrate their feelings to FINA. The resolution (download) was not openly circulated or promoted, yet over half the diving competitors signed their support. Subsequently teams which are not represented on the document such as the Czech Masters have also indicated their agreement with the contents.

The resolution emphasised that Masters Divers want to support and compete in FINA Masters Championships; however we feel that proper facilities must be made available in order to maintain the credibility and status that such events should have.

The resolution was sent to the Executive Director of FINA, Cornel Marculescu, who referred the matter to the FINA Masters Committee. Mr Marculescu assured me that "for future Championships we will consider further the facilities before any approval will be granted." The Masters Divers of Great Britain are heartened by the seriousness that FINA is taking this issue and trust that this will reflect in future FINA World Masters events.

Jim McNally
President
Great Britain Diving Federation