Canada Cup dives into new Calgary home

EDMONTON • Calgary was ready to jump in with both feet, so Diving Canada agreed to test the waters out west.

The Canada Cup, an annual Grand Prix meet staged for the past decade in Montreal and Gatineau, Que., is coming to the Stampede city for at least the next two years.

“Not very many cities in the country can host a diving event, because they don’t have the international specs that we need,” said Penny Joyce, chief operating officer for Diving Canada.

Calgary has that facility, the Repsol Sport Centre, as well as a robust club, Dive Calgary, former club of stars Blythe Hartley and Erin Bulmer Barrett.

Joyce also said Tourism Calgary was “awesome” and has been instrumental in generating funding for the event at the municipal and provincial levels. Currently, that funding limits the event to a two-year run, still long enough to make an impact on athletes and fans, according to Joyce. “For the local athletes and coaches to witness the event, it’s like a mini-Olympics. Some of the best divers in the world are here. Just having the whole Canadian team in the city has such a great effect on registration and performance.”

She said that has been evident in Gatineau, where the event was held for the past five years.

The FINA Grand Prix series consists of nine four-day meets held between February and November. Each consists of men’s and women’s three-metre springboard, 10-metre platform, threemetre springboard synchro and 10-metre platform synchro. The Calgary meet will attract about 120 athletes from 15 countries, including Canada, China, the U.S., Italy, Australia, U.K. and Russia.

Calgary’s Caeli McKay, senior national champ in 2016, will be one of those divers. She has competed at the provincial level in Repsol, her home pool, but this is a totally different deal.

“The Grand Prix will help Calgary specifically because not a lot of people have a great knowledge of what diving is. When you say diving, they think scuba diving,” she said. “When they actually come and see it, they see how amazing and incredible the athletes are and how crazy the sport is.”