ASPIRE ATHLETES DO ONDC PROUD IN KITCHENER

News › ASPIRE ATHLETES DO ONDC PROUD IN KITCHENER

20 June, 2019

Last weekend our Aspire Provincial Team finished their 2018-2019 competitive season. The Ottawa National Diving Club attended the Aspire Provincials held in Kitchener ON with 8 athletes coaches by Mary and Grace.

These athletes did ONDC proud! They have worked so hard all year long and went out with a BANG! A huge congratulations to all our athletes in our aspire program for your tremendous work this season!

Beginning with our two oldest Marianne and Jeff.

Both of these athletes competed on the 1m board.

This was Marianne’s only opportunity to compete this season due to her numerous endeavours into education and philanthropy. She never ceases to amaze us in everything she does and this competition was no exception! She finished the event with a GOLD MEDAL and is now the 2019 Provincial Champion on 1m. We look forward to hearing about her newest endeavour this summer where she will travel to Guatemala to build houses for the poor.

 

 

Jeff was amazing support to all our younger athletes all weekend and finally had his opportunity to compete in one of the competition’s final events on Sunday. He was “steady as she goes” through most of the competition showing great improvement that he has made throughout the year. His moment to shine came on his final dive. There had been a technical difficulty with the computers right before his hardest dive. A forward two and a half somersaults in tuck. This would be his first time competing this dive. When it was finally time to go he absolutely crushed it! The judges awarded rewarded with 7-7.5’s across the board! He was absolutely filled with emotion and support from the team and is now the PROVINCIAL CHAMPION on the 1m.

 

 

A huge shoutout to his coach Ben. Ben got in his car at 5am on the Sunday morning from Ottawa and travelled to Kitchener just for Jeff’s 1m event. Some of the host club’s parents asked “Why did he travel 5.5 hours to watch a 30 minute event?” Ben’s answer: “Because he’s my athlete and I wanted to be there for him.” That level of dedication does not go unnoticed and is incredibly admired at ONDC!

Our next athletes are Valentina and Caelly!

Valentina competed on the 1m and 3m springboard events showing huge strides since arriving in Ottawa last September to join our team. All her hard work paid off in the end with a BRONZE MEDAL on 1m and a SILVER MEDAL on 3m.

Caelly competed on all 3m events over the weekend. Simply put, she dominated! TRIPLE GOLD MEDALIST, 3 new personal bests and a spot on the inaugural ASPIRE TEAM ONTARIO! We look forward to see how Caelly does next season as she moves in the National stream of diving.

 

 

Our next trio of athletes are Emilie, Olivia and Naya. All having the opportunity to compete in the same level for the first time this season! These three girls showed the province they are the three to beat in their category. The girls owned the podium on 1m with a GOLD, SILVER, BRONZE finish! On platform the girls finished SILVER, BRONZE and 4th place. Only Emilie competed on the 3m where she took home the GOLD and solidified her place on the inaugural ASPIRE TEAM ONTARIO alongside teammate Caelly!

 

 

Finally our youngest, 7 year old Katelyn! Attending her first ever diving competition! If you ask the kid it was like going to Disneyland! She was up at 5:00am the day before the competition bouncing off the walls with excitement! We asked her “are you nervous?” Her answer “No I’m excited!” And thats what we love to hear! No fear just determination to do her best and show everyone what she’s been working on! She began her events on the 1m board and showing beautiful technique and was reward with her first 9! She finished the competition and went to receive her awards having no idea how she finished! She was surprised to find out she won the event! First competition ever and is now the PROVINCIAL CHAMPION on 1m.

Her second day was the 3m event. She was fired up and ready to go!

She was the only diver in the province that had accomplished all the dives necessary to compete in this event! She showed great dives and a few hiccups in the competition and when her first coach Kathleen asked her “How did you dive?” Her answer was “My first dives were good but inward and back dive could be better.” Pretty wise for a 7 year old to realize that even though you are a DOUBLE PROVINCIAL CHAMPION there is always room for improvement!

 

 

A huge thank you to all our Aspire Level parents for your dedication to our club and your support for all our athletes! To Mary, Grace and Ben for all your hard work with these young athletes as they continue to grow under your direction and finally to the KW Diving Club/Dive Ontario for hosting another great competition to finish off the competitive season!