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Diving Australia’s quest for success at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics has recently been boosted with the recruitment of a world-class international coach and a major expansion of the sport’s High Performance program. 

As well as its traditional base in Brisbane, Diving Australia is to establish ‘Performance Pillars’ in Sydney and Adelaide, with the Adelaide programme to be run by highly regarded current Canadian national head coach, Michel Larouche.

The Performance Pillars strategy - which will be geared at expanding Australia’s ability to generate world-class divers - will underpin and support the Australian national squad and ultimately, the Australian diving team.

The locations - Adelaide, supported by the South Australian Sports Institute; Brisbane, supported by the Queensland Academy of Sport; and Sydney, supported by the New South Wales Institute of Sport - provide truly world-class facilities and a daily training environment suited to preparing divers for FINA World Championships and Olympic success.

Diving Australia Chief Executive David Bell said that "this new strategy gives us more capability and more flexibility to ensure that all of our talented divers have the opportunity to reach their potential.

"With the ongoing support of the Australian Sports Commission and the Australian Institute of Sport across our entire system, we are now in a better position to deliver excellent and sustainable results in a manner that provides more options and support for our athletes."

In setting the leadership team for the Performance Pillars, Diving Australia has announced that national head coach and Olympic medal-winning coach Hui Tong will become national coach for Brisbane.

Current NSWIS Head Coach and Olympic medal-winning coach Chava Sobrino will be elevated to the position of national coach for Sydney. As mentioned, current Canadian national head coach and Olympic medal-winning coach Michel Larouche will take up the newly created position of national coach in Adelaide.

Larouche has been the Canadian head coach since 2009 and has coached at multiple Olympics with athletes such as Alexandre Despatie and Emilie Heymans. He is a member for the FINA Coaches Committee and is considered a world leader in diving coaching and also coach education.

23rd June 2014 - DIVING AUSTRALIA PARTNERS WITH REVOLUTIONISESPORT

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