Diving Australia took home two medals from the 2018 FINA Diving World Cup held in Wuhan, China earlier this month in the Men’s Platform Synchro and Women’s 3m Synchro. Diving Australia National Coach Ady Hinchliffe sat down to talk results from the competition and the next step on the journey to Tokyo 2020.

We have just come back from World Cup in Wuhan, what are some takeaways from that competition that we can use moving forward?

Hinchliffe - It was lovely for the Dom (Bedggood) and Declan (Stacey) to get on the podium in the Platform Synchro event, I think it’s been a while with a synchro event for Australia and I think that will be a real confidence booster not only for Declan and Dom but for the boys generally. Matt (Carter) did well to establish himself as a semi-finalist in his individual event and the boys also did well in 3m Synchro which was a major step forward and we all know what James (Connor) is capable of. That was the big takeaway for me, our men’s team is strengthening.

Women’s 3m synchro came away with a medal using a team that aren’t usually paired together. What does that flexibility do for the program?

Hinchliffe - It’s all about confidence. It’s unique, the last two years I think we’ve rotated the top four girls around in every combination you can think of and they consistently are able to hit the podium which is really good for our Olympic preparation, especially when you think of injuries and possibilities and how we can tactically approach doing well in Tokyo. This time around again using not necessarily our strongest team, Esther (Qin) and Anabelle (Smith), both incredible top six in the World individual athletes, so when you put them together they are going to put pressure on the results at a World level.

As you mentioned, another medal came from Dom and Declan in the Men’s 10m Synchro, both are former elite gymnasts. What does that give a diver in the early stages of their career?

Hinchliffe - In many ways they get an advantage, I think the preparation that gymnastics in Australia, the preparation that they are getting through that sport, is great for many sports including ours and it gives them a foot up in terms of the speed they can accelerate in our sport and in the heights they can achieve. It’s not for every gymnast, but these two definitely have a lot of transferable skills that they’ve been able to bring and produce a result like that. They were good gymnasts in their own right, but what they are now is great divers and that’s the key. They are both two great divers, diving together to produce a result like that.

Women’s 3m has been a strong event for Australian Divers for the last decade, and this year was no different with Maddi Keeney placing 4^th and Anabelle Smith placing 6^th. Why is this such a strong event for Australia year after year?

Hinchliffe - Legacy. For the next generation, even though they aren’t going outside of their country, they are seeing world class diving for that event here without even realizing it. So, the bar that is being set for the next generation is high. As and when divers like Sharleen Stratton has moved on, they have left their legacy by leaving younger athletes like Anabelle and Maddi and Esther striving for a higher level because the domestic competition is so tough. Moving onwards, the hope is that this will continue as we move forwards and it looks that way as we have great depth in that event.

You’ve been in Australia for a little over a year now, what changes have you seen since that time?

Hinchliffe - The coaching staff is so different now and it brings a new philosophy and new thought pattern around being a team. I think our idea of a team is different to what it was before. What I am really excited about is the engagement that we have had from the athletes themselves, people have really trusted us, opened their eyes, tried new things and its created a really good feel around the team. In that place, special things can happen.

You mention the coaching changes. What do the new faces on the block in Andy Banks and Rick Schavone bring to Diving Australia?

Hinchliffe - Well Andy has been a key mentor for me all the way through my coaching career and he is a technician who has a very good understanding of the sport, but he also is a great communicator so he is very good with his athletes in terms of guiding them to perform at the highest level and he is a team player. He loves being part of a team and is a great contributor to that. Rick is really new to the team. I have known him for years, he is great fun. It was so good to take him straight away and drop him in the deep-end, excuse the pun, at World Cup because we didn’t know too much about working with him. He has settled in really well, his humor is great, he was fantastic with the athletes he looked after out there and he obviously showed he has the experience and ability to cope at that level.

Two years out from the next Olympic Games in Tokyo, what is our next step from here?

Hinchliffe - Next step we have to regroup, we have an off season now so with our key players we need to strip things back, make sure that we are looking after any injury troubles that are out there and really look at where our gaps in performance are. We also need to get heads focusing on Tokyo, even if the event is two years away, the qualification starts next season so it is an important year for us, I think we are going to Japan for a training camp in the off season which will be relevant to get them in the right mood, but really getting teams and qualifications and performances to a level where we are ready for World Championships in Korea next year.