City youngsters diving into the national stage
TWO Geelong divers will compete on the national stage next month against some of the best young talent in the country.
Jasmin Visser, 10, and Tilly Carrington, 12, have qualified for next month’s Australian Age Diving Championships.
The pair will participate in the 1m and 3m springboard events when the championships are held in Brisbane between April 16 and 19.
Jasmin will also compete in the 5m platform event, winning gold at the state titles earlier this month.
She also won silver medals in the 1m and 3m springboard events.
Jasmin only changed sports about 18 months ago from gymnastics to diving following the onset of Sever’s disease — a form of heel pain brought on by repetitive stress.
Coach Nathan Veal said Jasmin’s gymnastics background was a significant advantage.
“A lot of divers have a transition away from gymnastics and come into diving and it’s a very good transition because the sports are so similar,” Veal said.
“The background has probably been a huge advantage … just the consistency in training and picking it up is relatively easy.”
Both Jasmin and Tilly train with the Melbourne Elite Diving Academy in Geelong twice a week and travel to the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre weekly.
Tilly and her family recently returned from living in America and April’s championships will be her biggest event since moving back to Australia. Veal said it was a great achievement for the pair to qualify.
Jasmin will compete in the under-11 events and Tilly will compete in the under-13 category.
“If they keep progressing like this, they’re going to go very well in diving,” he said.
“If they keep training consistently, they’re going to move onto bigger competitions hopefully in the future.
“This is a very good milestone for them in their diving.”
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