Australia’s Olympic diving stars heading for Leeds
Published on: 26th January 2012
Leeds is marking Australia Day today with the announcement that the diving stars from Down Under are the latest athletes to choose the city as their training base ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Diving Australia have confirmed they will be sending a group of approximately nine divers to train at the Aquatics Centre at the John Charles Centre for Sport after choosing Leeds as the preferred location to complete their final preparations in July before heading to London.
The squad coming to Leeds is expected to feature superstar Matthew Mitcham, who is the reigning Olympic 10-metre Champion and a major rival of Britain’s own gold medal hope Tom Daley.
Mitcham shot to prominence when he caused a sensation at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing by recording the highest single-dive score in Olympic history in the final round to snatch the gold medal and in doing so prevented China from claiming a clean sweep of all the diving gold medals at the Games. The 23-year-old from Brisbane became an overnight superstar in his homeland as a result, even having a stamp produced in his honour to celebrate his achievement of becoming the first Australian male Olympic diving champion since 1924.
Mitcham claimed four silver medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, losing out to Daley in the 10m platform event, but was forced to miss last year’s FINA World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai due to back and abdominal injuries. Now recovered, he is heading back to form as he begins his qualifying campaign for London.
Also likely to be in the squad coming to Leeds is 32-year-old Loudy Wiggins, who is attempting to qualify for a fourth Olympic Games after coming out of retirement. The bronze medallist at both the Sydney Games in 2000 and Athens in 2004 opted to end her career after a calf injury forced her to miss the Beijing Games in 2008, but after three years away from the sport her return has started well with victory in the Australian Open Championships shortly before Christmas.
Other members of the squad likely to be coming to Leeds include Alexandra Croak, who made history in 2010 by becoming the first Australian to win gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in two different sports, having secured victory in the 2002 Games in Manchester as a gymnast. The 27-year-old from Sydney is also a dual Olympian having competed in her home Olympics in 2000 in gymnastics before switching to diving in 2003 and going on to compete at the 2008 Beijing Games as a diver. Croak also claimed a silver medal at last year’s FINA World Aquatics Championships in China.
Also with Olympic experience is Melissa Wu, who became the youngest-ever Australian Olympic diver and secured a superb silver medal in the Beijing Games in 2008 at just 16 years of age. Coupled with her previous success at the world championships and Commonwealth Games (where she won a silver medal aged 13), this meant Wu had completed the clean sweep of medalling at every major international championship – all by the age of 16. Her medal success has since continued with gold and silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and silver at last year’s world championships.
Rounding out the squad pending qualification are likely to be Sharleen Stratton, who won a bronze medal at last year’s world championships and competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Anabelle Smith who won a world championship bronze medal last year, and 2010 Commonwealth Games medallists Grant Nel and Ethan Warren.
Chief executive officer of Diving Australia Mary Godden said:
“We are delighted to have reached agreement with Leeds City Council for the use of the Aquatics Centre at the John Charles Centre for Sport in the lead-up to the London 2012 Olympic Games. The Aquatics Centre is a world-class venue and the Australia team is looking forward to using Leeds as a ‘home base’ during our build-up for the Olympics.”
Leeds City Council executive member for leisure Councillor Adam Ogilvie said:
“This is more fantastic news for Leeds to attract another major sporting power in the form of the Australia diving squad. Everyone knows what a competitive sporting nation Australia is, so for them to choose Leeds as their ideal base to train before the Games is a massive compliment to our facilities and our city. We very much look forward to welcoming them in July.”
Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) Seb Coe said:
“Training camps are a key part of the preparation for the Games. The Aquatics Centre at the John Charles Centre for Sport will provide a vital service to ensure that these athletes can prepare for competition while also engaging local people with sport and culture. This is great news for Leeds as it will not only bring benefit to the city but also help bring London 2012 to the heart of the community.”
Chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire and chair of Yorkshire Gold Gary Verity said:
“This agreement is another fantastic coup for Leeds and is further proof of the world-class sporting facilities we have in Yorkshire. We look forward to welcoming the Australia diving squad to Leeds this summer and will make sure they discover all we have to offer.”
Along with the team from Australia, Leeds will also be hosting divers from Russia and the USA at the Aquatics Centre at the John Charles Centre for Sport. There will also be athletes from Serbia, Canada and Holland coming to Leeds ahead of the 2012 London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, while a team of approximately 300 athletes and officials from China will be using the city as its European pre-Games training base. Discussions are continuing with a number of other countries.
For more information on Leeds and its work towards the London 2012 Games, visit www.leedsgold.co.uk
