Photo Courtesy Wade Brennan

While Age divers were competing in Adelaide at Diving Australia’s Age Championships last week, some of Australia’s top athletes were hard at work in Brisbane, training at the National Synchro Camp. 

Organised with the support of Commonwealth Games Australia, the camp was an amazing opportunity for young and established athletes to refine their dives and test new partnerships with less than 100 days to go until the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

“It’s been an absolutely fantastic camp,” said Russell Butler, Diving Australia’s Athlete Pathways & Talent Transfer Manager.

“We are grateful to the Commonwealth Games Australia for putting this on for us. It has been an outstanding opportunity to lift the level of synchronised diving in Australia and it’s been fantastic to see so many athletes crowding the 10m platform - and the quality of diving, as well,” he said.

After the Olympic Games in Tokyo last year, 2022 is another big year for international diving competition, with the FINA World Championships and the Commonwealth Games to be held between June and August.

Butler said that although the main focus is on this year’s two major events and the shortened 3-year runway towards the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the breadth of Diving Australia’s development programs is much wider than that.

“This camp goes a long way to help us really fine-tune who we want to represent Australia at those competitions,” Butler explained. “But we've also invited a number of younger athletes, keeping in mind not just Paris, but also looking at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and even 2032 - what a beautiful thing to have Brisbane named [as Olympic host],” he added. 

“As a pathways manager, part of my role is looking at younger athletes and making a plan for 2032. We have some State Institutes like the Queensland Academy of Sport that have already come on board and they are doing fantastic things with recruiting and building relationships with schools. 

“We’re hoping to see some benefits from those programs and we really expect some great stuff to happen over the next decade, which is just beautiful,” he said.

In the meanwhile, the Brisbane camp gave young synchro athletes an amazing opportunity to train alongside National Squad athletes, including 26-year-old Laura Hingston, who represented Australia at the 2019 FINA World Championships.

“It’s such an exciting time as we have a lot of talent coming through,” said Hingston. 

“As a senior athlete, it’s just so much fun to see these young athletes coming up to these camps. Everyone’s having fun and doing some really great diving.

“Also, it's been great to all get together. We haven't been able to do that much in the past two years, so it's been a lot of fun to mix up the partnerships and do quite a bit of diving,” she said. 

Hingston had a significant injury last year, suffering from a 10cm tear in her tricep. After eight months of rehabilitation she is now looking to find her rhythm again, in a bid to make the Australian team for the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships.

“Like any injury, it has sometimes been two steps forward and one step back, but I’ve been working pretty hard and I am back on the 10m platform now. I have all my dives and really I am just trying to refine them as we lead into those major competitions,” Hingston said. 

“I definitely feel stronger and a lot more confident in my arm, so I am really excited to get going again. 

“I don't feel like I've reached my peak yet, so to be back on the Australian team for international competition is definitely my dream,” she said.

The atmosphere during the camp at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre was full of excitement, with young and established athletes thrilled to be back in the pool, try new partnerships and work towards getting back on the world circuit.

“And really be competing and doing what I love, which I haven’t been able to do for the past two years. I think that’s the same feeling for everyone on the national team right now,” Hingston said.