THUNDER BAY- Sports – The Thunder Bay Diving Club has been busy preparing to host the 2013 Canadian Junior Elite National Diving Championships to be held at the Canada Games Complex in Thunder Bay. There will be 91 divers from 26 diving teams from across Canada converging in Thunder Bay to compete at this year’s Junior Elite National Championships. This is the first national championships being held in Thunder Bay since 2008, when the Thunder Bay Diving Club (TBDC) hosted the Speedo Junior National Championships.
2013 Canadian Junior Elite National Diving Championships
This competition will see divers aged 16 to 18 (Group A) and ages 14 & 15 (Group B) vying for 14 national titles in what will be an intense and exciting display of the best junior elite diving this country has to offer. Events include the 1-metre springboard, 3-metre springboard, tower, and 3–metre synchronized diving. The event also serves as the trials to select the Canadian Junior National Team that will compete in Tucson, Arizona at the 2013 Pan American Junior Diving Championships.
Thunder Bay Hosts Championships
TBDC Head Coach Mike Lang stated, “Having Thunder Bay host this competition enhances public awareness of the sport of diving and shows that the TBDC operates an elite program that produces athletes that compete at this level”. He hopes that more kids aged 6 to 12 will get involved locally in the sport of diving, including kids retiring from other sports such as gymnastics.
The Thunder Bay Diving Club is eagerly anticipating this event, with two of its divers undergoing extensive training to be a part of this competition. TBDC’s own Molly Carlson and Helena Heiskanen will be representing Thunder Bay in the Group B age category.
Mike Lang points out that “Carlson has been a junior national team member and long time medalist who has competed at the national and international level. She is hoping to qualify for the Pan-American Junior Championships in Tucson, AZ this year based on her performance at these Thunder Bay Nationals”.
Heiskanen is competing at this age group level nationally for the first time and is expecting good results in all events including the 10 meter platform.
There are several up and coming competitors at this competition who have already competed for Canada at the senior international level, including Taylor Olanski (18-Forest City Diving Club), Vincent Riendeau (16-Pointe Claire Diving Club), and Philippe Gagne (15-CAMO).
TBDC has made arrangements for divers from Calgary to train at the Canada Games Complex in advance of the formal training sessions of July 10th & 11th to allow them an extra opportunity to train due to Calgary’s dive facilities not being available after the recent Calgary flooding.
Three of TBDC’s Group C (ages 12 &13) divers including Cristen Merlo, Coralie Cote, and Christopher Lake-Voros are slated to go to the 2013 Speedo Junior Development National Championships, presently scheduled for Aug. 3-4, 2013, location TBD.
All members of the public are welcome to come to the Canada Games Complex July 12th-14th and enjoy watching the best divers in the country competing in this three day event. Competition starts at 9:00am each day and runs to 5:30pm. Admission is $5.00 per day or $10.00 for a full weekend pass. Children 12 and under are free.
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