Ashley McCool is flipping out. Literally.
The 14-year-old Cochrane diver won gold, silver and bronze at the national diving championships Aug. 8-10 in Victoria. She’s taking her game global, joining Team Canada for the FINA World Junior diving championships starting Sept. 9 in Penza, Russia. She arrives in Russia first week of September.
While flipping out – her more difficult dive involves standing 10 metres above the tank (pool) before doing 2 1/2 back flips in the pike position and piercing the water head-first – she has to keep her cool.
McCool won gold in three-metre springboard synchronized at junior nationals, diving with Calgary partner Caeli McKay. McCool took silver in individual three-metre springboard and bronze in the 10-metre tower event at Victoria. Her second-place overall showing earned her one of two spots in her age group (14-15) on the national team for the world event. It was her third national competition.
“I felt pretty good going into nationals,” says the National Sports School (Calgary) student entering Grade 10. “I managed to keep calm, so I ended up doing pretty well.
“I feel like I did pretty well on competition day.”
She trains five days a week, twice a day, at Talisman Centre in Calgary. Part of her training includes work on a trampoline, where she can repeat more difficult moves with the help of coaches and a special harness that keeps her from falling awkwardly.
But keeping a lid on the excitement and anticipation of attending your first world championship is tough. She’ll be diving against the top kids in her age group from powerhouse diving nations like China and Russia.
“I’m super excited to go,” she admits. “It’s supposed to be the largest world diving competition.”
