Platform Diving Stretch Photos By, Warren Clarke

IN THE GYM

A: “We do a lot of squats and things like that. A lot of plyometrics; jumping. We also do a lot of sommersaults of a morning and afternoon.”

M: “We usually combine them with abdominal exercises in between. A lot of our ab work is specifically diving-related; a lot of pike positions are incorporated.”

A: “We do a lot of box jumping, hurdle jumping, medicine ball, squat jumps. Basically we do three gym sessions a week; one day will be a heavier squat day. The next day in the gym will be a more dynamic day with maybe a med ball so it’s not just squats, which are a static exercise.”

M: “Half the stuff we do is squatting, in terms of legs, which builds up our strength, and then we do a lot dynamic stuff like jumping with weights to improve and use the strength we’ve built up in a dynamic way.”

MAT FINISH

M: “Mat work is the foundation for all our dives. On top of all our strength work, we also need the skills to be able to execute our dives in the water. The stuff on the crash mats is very much diving-specific; focusing on take-offs, etc. So that when we’re on the platform, they’re easier to execute; we’ve done it a thousand times, we know exactly what we’re doing and how to do it.”

HITTING THE WATER

M: “We practise what we call ‘entries’ by executing the simplest dive we can do. We practise getting our line-up right for when we transfer to our higher dives.”

JOB SATISFACTION

M: “I’d definitely say I prefer actual diving practice to squatting in the gym, for example, but we know it’s all part of it. In order to dive, you need to do squats in the gym. For me, and I guess for any athlete, the strength stuff isn’t as fun, but is required for us to do well in the sport.”

A: “The most enjoyable part for me is training synchro, as opposed to training on my own. I prefer the days where I get to dive with Melissa than the days I have to dive on my own. You’re up there together and if it’s a hard day you have someone to talk it out with ... Some days we talk a little bit too much, so the sessions go a little bit longer than expected ... ” }