Last Sunday, professional diver Florence from Beckenham and her partner came 2nd place in a synchronized diving competition at the Stratford’s Aquatic Centre. The aquatic centre was built in 2012 for the London Olympic Games and suffice to say it has a certain glamour to it compared to your local swimming pool.
Fourteen year old Florence Summers has been diving for most of her life and trains on a regular basis with the Crystal Palace diving team; she has also been to various international competitions (Beijing e.t.c) and has met diving legend Tom Daly on numerous occasions.
Training for a professional competition takes a considerable amount of dedication. Florence often trains most days and on the run up to competition the training schedule increases. Training includes gymnastics and on the trampoline, in addition to being in the water. Florence also has to manage her homework and the beginning of GCSE’S alongside her friend and family relationships whilst having her prior commitment to diving.
The competition was judged by a panel of six judges; three on either end of the pool to fully judge the synchronization of the divers. There were five groups of two partners were each group was from a different diving group. In addition each pair had to perform their dive 4 times with a mark out of 10 being given per person. Overall Florence was very proud of how she performed. “It was an amazing experience” Florence says about the competition “and one I'll never forget” she adds.
