The hunt is underway for budding diving talent across the North-east with youngsters being urged to sign up for potential selection.
Aberdeen Sports Village, which hosts the second largest diving club in Scotland, is working in conjunction with Scottish Swimming and Swim England to attract more young people into the sport.
With a break in talent ID throughout 2020, the sport has missed out on identifying new talent, so the search has been moved online to encourage more children to take part in the Diving Virtual Talent Search 2021.
It is the first time the organisations have opted for virtual selection, but it is hoped that it will encourage more children with an interest in diving to come forward.
ASV already has a number of performance divers selected through previous Talent ID programmes, including four divers on the Scottish National squads, and one selected for the Scottish Swimming/Swim England Team Z squad, which is the first level of Team GB.
Two of Aberdeen Diving Club’s most promising young talent, who came through the 2017 Talent ID, are 13-year-old Niamh Rogerson, selected for Team Z, and 14-year-old Noah Penman who is potentially competing at the GB Junior Elite Championships next month.
ASV elite diving coach, Judy Wardlaw, said: “Many of this year’s Olympic team was selected from the Talent ID programme so it is a great way to attract potential homegrown talent. With the Aquatics Centre only launching in recent years, we’re a young club but the progress in the past five years has been incredible and we’ve already attracted some excellent young talent with a huge amount of potential for the future.
“Niamh and Noah both came through the 2017 programme and they have a huge amount of talent and are already forging their own futures in the sport. We’re not looking for the finished product with the Talent ID, you don’t need any previous experience and you don’t even have to be able to swim. If you are keen to learn to dive and have an interest in the sport, that’s all you need to sign up to the virtual talent search.”
The search is targeted at 8-14-year-olds and no previous diving experience is required with candidates expected to demonstrate a number of flexibility and strength exercises through video recordings. ASV’s elite diving coach is also keen to encourage even younger applicants to try out.
Following selection success, the team at ASV will work around current commitments to offer a level of training which would allow candidates to start on an elite pathway in the sport. Once they have learned the basics of the sport they will be given the opportunity to join Aberdeen Diving Club if they want to progress to compete.
Everyone who applies through the Diving Virtual Talent ID will be offered a free taster session and those not selected in this year’s programme will still be invited to attend ASV to try diving.
The deadline for registering is October 10, with video submissions to be entered by October 17. Children interested to sign up can find out more here –
https://www.swimming.org/diving/diving-virtual-talent-search/
Or email ASV - diving@aberdeensportsvillage.com
Aberdeen boasts an Olympic standard 50 metre, 10 lane training and competition pool and a separate 25 metre pool with a full floating floor and diving facilities including springboards and diving platforms up to 10 metres in height.