WAIS Divers Impress at State Champs

WAIS athletes returned some encouraging results at the weekend’s State Diving Championships at HBF Stadium.

WAIS Diving Program head coach Shannon Roy was pleased with his squad’s performances with a couple of particularly notable efforts.

“Whilst there weren’t a lot of competitors in it and the WAIS divers dominated, there were a few standout results,” he said.

“Josh Ong won the men’s 3m event with a new personal best which was great for Josh, whilst Alex Smedley qualified for the Open National Championships on platform for the first time.”

“This is a major achievement as he’s only been diving about two and a half years and the qualifying standard is significantly tough.”

“It’s a pleasant surprise to have Alex join the rest of the squad for the Open Nationals to be held at the end of April into the beginning of May,” Roy said.

WAIS scholarship holder Tamara Irvine competed well, narrowly missing a personal best in the women’s 3m with her performance coming in the same month that she has earned selection onto the Junior Australian Team to compete at the Youth International Invitational meet in Dresden, Germany.

Current WAIS train-on athlete Nikita Hains earned praise from coach Roy after making significant in-roads in her fast-tracked development within the sport, having previously been a scholarship holder in the WAIS Gymnastics Program.

“Nikita stood tall against some more experienced girls and executed, albeit a simpler list of dives, to a very high standard which held her amongst the placings,” Roy said. “It was a great experience for her to understand how consistent performance matches up against potentially harder dives.”

The Dresden Youth Invitational will be held from April 23-26, whilst the Open National Diving Championships, in conjunction with the World Championships Trials will be held in Brisbane from April 30 – May 3.