Welcome to our latest edition of the Diving Queensland “Dive In” Newsletter.  It has certainly been a busy few months since our last edition!! Read on to find out all the exciting news and up-and coming activities!

Letter from our CEO Lisa Wright

Hi everyone,

Wow, what an incredibly busy but fantastic few months in the world of our Sport!! 

Obviously, the highlight of the past couple of months was in celebrating the Olympic Games together!  We take immense pride in the achievements of our Queensland athletes, particularly Maddi Keeney, a QAS-funded competitor, who proudly claimed a silver medal. Additionally, Cassiel delivered a commendable fourth-place finish, while Alysha reached the semifinals, narrowly missing out on the finals. Congratulations to our Athletes, as well as to Ady Hinchliffe who was our Olympic Games Coach.  Congratulations extend to all our coaches who helped prepare the athletes for the Games.

The Games provided a wonderful opportunity for our community to rally behind our athletes. We hosted a memorable evening with the QAS to cheer on Maddi's synchronized diving event, attracting around 100 supporters! The event even caught the attention of Channel 9 News—what a fantastic way to showcase our sport!

Seeing our Queensland community come together in such a relaxed, festive atmosphere was heartwarming. We also hosted another fun viewing for Cassiel’s preliminary performance, amplifying the spirit of the Games.

Our social media was buzzing with activity and engagement, and we continue to encourage our athletes, coaches and diving members to follow our pages on Instagram and Facebook, and share their diving stories and tag us!!

Another huge celebration for Diving Queensland was the confirmed Active Industry Project Fund grant allocation, many thanks to the Department of Sport and Tourism.  This Grant is geared towards grassroot participation and performance development.  We are beyond excited to be activating our new Summer League Recreation Competition Series, as well as various other initiatives, details of which to be shared in the coming weeks and month.  We know these will boost the number of feet on the boards in our loved sport, adding a whole lot more to the FUN in diving, and help develop our sport on various fronts.

We are pleased to report a successful week at the School Sports Championships held in Adelaide from August 10th to 16th. Our athletes truly excelled, delivering impressive results and achieving multiple podium finishes. A heartfelt thank you goes out to our dedicated coaching team — Jeff Arbon, Ben Fox, and Xiangning Chen — whose leadership played a crucial role in our success.

Our appointed manager, Tandi Hinchliffe, was instrumental in overseeing daily logistics at the pool. Tandi's exceptional management, along with our coaches' efforts, greatly contributed to a seamless experience.

The Queensland Junior State Championships took place on July 13th and 14th, drawing a fantastic turnout of 43 participants, including athletes from outside the state.  A particularly noteworthy highlight was hosting Australia’s inaugural State High Diving Competition right here in Queensland. This event served as an excellent showcase for the expansion of our sport into high diving and underscores the significant opportunities for growth in this area. We are eager to support and witness the continued development of high diving in Queensland.

Another DQ Qualifier was held on the 25th August, with some further qualifiers for our upcoming National Junior Elite Championships.  We look forward to cheering on our Queensland Team, here in Brisbane, next month at that event.

As always, all of these events could not happen without the willingness of all of our fantastic Volunteers.  My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you as always!!

You may have seen the exciting news that Centenary Pool (Rackley Diving Club) are seeking a full time Head Coach and Development Manager for their Club.  What a fantastic opportunity for the sport in Queensland, and we encourage all to share the opportunity as they seek to fill the role.

Thank you all for your ongoing support, participation, and shared passion and love of diving! Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to make strides in our sport!

Regards,

Lisa Wright
Chief Executive Officer
Diving Queensland

Paris 2024: Diving wrap up

Maddi Keeney delivered the Australian Team its first diving medal for Paris 2024, taking silver in the Women’s 3m Springboard and making history by winning the first-ever medal for Australia across springboard events.

Her score of 343.10 was enough to claim the silver medal, as she split the podium for the Chinese Team with Chen Yiwen scoring 376.00 to win gold and Chang Yani taking bronze with 318.75.

Cassiel Rousseau finished with an incredible 4th Placing in the Men’s 10 Meter Platform Final, narrowly missing the bronze medal!  An incredible nail-biting event with some world class talent like never before!

Alysha Koloi debuted in the Women's 3m Springboard alongside Maddi Keeney. She placed 14th in the semi-final with a final score of 270.60.

In the Men’s 10m Synchronised Platform, Cassiel Rousseau and Domonic Bedggood recorded a final score of 394.74 to finish in sixth place, whilst Maddi teamed up with Anabelle Smith to finish the Women’s 3m Synchronised Springboard to finish in fifth.

We couldn’t be prouder of their achievements and the inspiration they are for Australia and our up-and-coming athletes.

Thank you to all the athletes, coaches, parents, volunteers and industry for their unwavering support for making Paris 2024 a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our Diving Queensland athletes. 

Active Industry Base Fund Grant

We are beyond excited to report that we were successful in our grant application to the Queensland Govenment's Active Industry Base Fund grant.  $97 700 from the Department of Sport and Tourism will go towards Participation and Pathway Development within our sport in Queensland. 

Among other plans, these funds will be utilised towards the implementation of the Community Cup: a new Summer League Recreation Diving Competition Series.  The aim of this initiative will be to provide additional competitive diving opportunities to grass-root participants, as well as continued athlete development in a systemised approach.

It will be an opportunity to showcase athlete improvements, and develop our membership pathways to facilitate greater recreational member retention, community development and volunteer engagement. 

Additionally built into this planning will be opportunities to deliver Fun Community Events (bbq’s, diving disco’s etc) around events, to encourage community and connection between athletes and their families. Stay tuned for further details on this, kicking off in November this year!

Happy Father’s Day

Diving Queensland recently celebrated Father's Day by hosting a joyous community gathering for divers to bring along their dads, brothers, uncles, or any male role models to experience the thrill of diving. The event concluded with a lighthearted synchronized diving competition featuring pairs of adults and kids, resulting in plenty of laughter and fun!

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us, and a big Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing dads out there!

Date Claimer for upcoming Diving events

Finally, we would like to remind you of some important dates coming up in the next few months, (full event list can be found here) which we hope you will mark in your calendars and join us for:

• Diving Queensland Adult Program
  • Most Wednesdday's (subject to pool availability) at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre or Centernary Aquatic Centre
  • 9:30am-11am
  • Registration opens every Thursday in advacne for the following week
  • Book via the events page on our website
    
• Brisbane City Council Holiday Chillout Program - SOLD OUT
  • Get on board and learn how to leap off springboards safely, with an opporutnity to transition into the sport of Diving. Suitable for 6-17 year olds
  • Brisbane Aquatic Centre, Brisbane
  • September 17, 18, 19
    
    
• 2024 Australian Junior Elite Championships
  • 23rd - 29th September 2024 at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, Chandler
  • Volunter/Judge Registration now open
    
    
• Diving Queensland State Qualifier
  
  • Sunday 27 October 2024 at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, Chandler
  • Registration will open early October
  • https://www.divingqld.org.au/events/