Just 18 months after forming the Invercargill Diving Club, some divers attended the national skills diving championships in Auckland this month.
The team of four faced some tough competition from divers from the rest of the country.
But the team did very well and leading the way was Charlotte Rain, 10, who was judged the top diver for skills level in the 11-and-under age group. She was one of 40 divers in the grade.
Zoe Johnson, 13, finished sixth overall in the level two class aged 12 and over. There were 24 competitors in the field. Abbie Ramsay, 12, and Ella Densie, 8, also lined up in the event.
Coach Sonja McKenzie said the divers’ efforts were great and it was good to get some competition for them.
The club, a satellite of an Auckland diving club, was started by Ms McKenzie last year.
She said the club had quickly drawn plenty of people who were keen to be divers. It now has about 20 members.
Getting time at a busy Splash Palace was sometimes hard but she realised pool room was always in high demand.
There was not an individual dive pool at the complex and 1m and 2m boards with a 5m platform went into the pool so it was sometimes difficult to get the space.
If the divers had to train on a 10m platform, they had to head to Dunedin or further afield.
The coach said she was thrilled to get so many divers showing so much interest in the sport.
There was a diving club in Invercargill in the early 2000s but it had died out and it was good to get one going again.
To be a good diver, bravery, courage, strong legs and air awareness were needed, she said.
- By Toni McDonald
