A perfect entry for several Pointe Claire divers

BY MICHAEL PIASETZKI

The Chronicle

It was time for competitive swimmers to step aside and let the divers take centre stage last weekend at the Malcolm Knox Aquatic Centre in Pointe Claire.

The 2007 Quebec Provincial Junior and Senior Championships, hosted by the Pointe Claire Diving Club (PCDC) rolled in to town.

The three-day affair, which began last Friday and wrapped up Sunday afternoon, featured athletes ranging in age from nine to over-18 from 11 Quebec, Ontario and Maritime clubs. Labelled a group two or lower-level meet, it also included group-one divers.

In some ways, meet organizer Scott McLeod and his band of volunteers breathed a sigh of relief in the fact it was a group two meet. Group one meets feature a 7.5-metre tower event, which the Malcolm Knox centre lacks.

Three years ago, when Pointe Claire hosted a group one, it was forced to pack everything up and move to CAMO for the tower events.

McLeod, also an assistant coach at Pointe Claire, said he and other PCDC coaches were looking for your younger divers to be precocious at the meet.

“Are they diving beyond their years already?” McLeod said. “Are they stronger than they should be at that age? The judges will notice that if it’s the case. But a lot of times, good marks get down to vertical, clean entries into the water.”

With PCDC head coach Yi Hua Li in Melbourne, Australia coaching Myriam Boileau and Arturo Miranda at the World Aquatic Championships, head age-group coach Dave Bédard was in charge of the Pointe Claire camp, offering instructions to divers as they emerged from the water.

Bédard, a four-time Olympian had to be happy with several PCDC individual performances, including that of 15-year-old Michelle Malcolm, who won gold in the 16-18 A class 10-metre platform event.

“Sometimes I don’t bring out the potential I know I have,” said Malcolm, who performed a total of eight dives.

“I’m very happy I did that here, particularly in my home pool. I was most pleased with my front three-and-a-half pike, which I recently learned and my back two-and-a-half,” she added.

Five other Pointe Claire divers earned individual medals, including Vincent Riendeau, who captured gold in the one- three- and 10-metre platform events and Alexis Trudel, who won silver in the one- three- and 10-metre platform. Both competed in the boy’s D class 10-11 category.

Samantha Maiorino earned silver in the one-metre and bronze in the three-metre girls’ 10-11 D class while Henry Charade won silver in the boys’ 14-15 B class.

Maxim Bouchard earned gold in the one- and three-metre events in the boys’ 16-18 A class as well as silver in the one- and three-metre open class.

The 14 Pointe Claire medals was the second largest haul at the meet.

A handful of Pointe Claire divers did not medal but still gave impressive performances, including 16-year-old Namiko Shibata, who was returning to competition after a one-year absence due to a nasty back injury.

“Under the circumstances I thought I did very well, “ said Shibata, who doubled as the public address announcer in the pool.

“I’m critical of myself as a person, so I feel I could have done even better.”쇓