Niagara sisters are making a splash
Megan and Sara Lupa combine to win three medals in diving at Junior Pan American Games
Diving is more than making a hole in the water and looking good doing it.
The discipline — yes, discipline — is more involved than plunging into a pool from springboards and platforms of various heights.
In addition to mastering a technique that can satisfy a panel of judges, divers need the guts to rebound quickly from a failed attempt that winds up making a lot of noise and, sometimes, pain.
Lora Lupa, speaking from the experience of having two daughters in the highly technical sport, points out climbing up the ladder after a back flop or bellyflop is not for the faint-hearted.
Only to the casual observer, is it easier said than done.
“Diving is a mental sport, it takes a lot of courage,” the Beamsville woman said. “When dives are not done correctly, hitting the water can hurt.
“After a smack, it takes a lot of mental control to get back up and try to do it again.”
Megan Lupa, 13, and her youngster sister Sara, 11, have been getting back up and doing it again — and again — for the past six and five years, respectively.
Megan, a Grade 8 student at Jacob Beam Public School in Beamsville, was introduced to the sport at a learn-to-dive program at Brock University. Sara, who is going into the sixth grade, got her feet wet at a similar program in Burlington.
“I liked it when I first saw it, I wanted to try it,” Sara recalled.
Over the years that repetition, from competitions and two- to 2½-hour practices four times a week, has turned the sisters into high-performance world-class athletes.
The Olympic hopefuls, both members of the Gatquatic Divers Club in Burlington, represented Canada on the podium at the Pan American Junior Championships that wrapped up Sunday in Chile.
Sara won gold in the girls 11 and younger three-metre springboard, while Megan earned bronze in the girls 12-13 one- and three-metre springboard.
“It was just an awesome feeling to get first,” said Sara, who was competing in her first international meet.
She came into the event “really nervous,” she said, but the butterflies were gone by the time she started competing in her age group.
“I tried to look at what I did at nationals and used it to help me. I
want to one day go to the Olympics, and I’m pushing myself to get there, hopefully.”
The four-day competition in Santiago was also an eye-opener for Megan.
“I had never been to a Pan Ams, and I didn’t know how strong the other countries would be,” she said.
“It’s great to see some of the divers I’ll be facing for the next few years.”
Her remedy for the rare times she does a bellyflop these days is to remain in the water.
‘‘ “It’s great to see some of the divers I’ll be facing for the next few years.” MEGAN LUPA Junior Pan American Games double bronze medallist
“The water helps, because the water sometimes is cold,” Megan said.
Their trip to the Games was funded by Diving Plongeon Canada, the sport’s governing body, but the athletes and their families bear the costs of qualifying and national competitions.
There was a bottle drive last winter to defray the cost of sending Megan and Sara to the national championships in Regina.
“Having two high-performance athletes is a very big expense. Our friends, family and community have helped us out tremendously,” their mother said.
Diving is a take-it-or-leave-it sport, according to Lorna Lupa, whose daughters also play travel soccer.
“Either you like it, or you don’t. It’s a very unique sport.”
She likes that diving is allinclusive when it comes to practices.
“You have the old ones mentoring the younger ones at the same time they’re training. I like that,” she said. “It’s competitive, but you’re not competing against your competition, you’re competing with yourself to get a good score. I love the respect that there is in this sport.”
The girls’ No. 1 cheerleader, logistics and transportation co-ordinator doesn’t begrudge the hours spent driving to and from competitions and practices in Etobicoke
“They’re very good at what they do. How can I not support that?”
In all, Canada sent 20 divers to the Games and earned 25 medals — six gold, nine silver, 10 bronze — finishing second to Mexico, which had 26 medals, eight of them gold. Placing third overall was the U.S., with 21 medals including eight gold.