News

Dublin Diving Club Closure

On the 15th of August 2011 an EGM was held at the Roselawn Inn in Blanchardstown. At this meeting a motion to close down Dublin Diving Club was once again put forward to the members in attendance. This came after months of hard work in trying to keep the club going, numerous meetings with club members, NAC management & Swim Ireland and the unsuccessful search for a viable solution for the future of the club. With that, all members present voted (reluctantly) to close down the club with no other available option in sight.

It was also agreed at this meeting that any remaining funds that the club had would be used to help pay off some of the outstanding debts. This would only happen after all government taxes etc were paid.

We would like to offer our sincere apologies to any members that had paid for lessons but were subsequently unable to complete these lessons. Unfortunately, due to the financial difficulties we found ourselves in, it is just not possible to issue refunds to these members. Again, we apologise for this.

Dublin Diving Club was established in 2004 and did a tremendous amount of work to push the sport of diving in Ireland forward. The loss of the club will be a huge blow to the sport in this country but we hope that all those involved in the club will continue to stay involved in the sport. For anyone interested in continuing to dive we suggest you check out Shamrock Diving or the NAC Diving Academy.

We would like to thank everyone that has ever dived with us, our fantastic coaches (Ricardo Gutierrez, Vladyslava Shapoval, Dave Linehan, Maeve O'Callaghan, Marie Ahern, Jennifer Barry, Andrew Gaw, Sean Smithers, Francesca Hew & Rathe Hollingum), the volunteers that worked extremely hard on the various committees over the years (especially Aisling Murray Daly, Rathe Hollingum, Hilary Murray, Erica Swift, Viktoria Horvath, Dave Linehan, Edward Golding, Alison Golding), all of the parents/guardians and friends that consistently supported us, the board of Swim Ireland, the members of the National Diving Committee, the O'Callaghan, McManus & Hew families, Sinead Sheils, Rosemary Melia, Dorothy Gibson, Dublin City Council and anyone else that has ever taken an interest in our club or helped out in any way.
(So sorry if we've left anyone out - there have been so many...)

It is such a shame that the club cannot continue. It has been a very fun couple of years (as well as a lot of hard work) and we hope that everyone has enjoyed their time with Dublin Diving Club.

Thank You.

Vladyslava Shapoval appointed as National Diving Coach

Swim Ireland have recently appointed Vladyslava Shapoval as the new Irish National Diving Coach.

Vlada has a wealth of diving experience which she brings to the post. Starting out in gymnastics at a very young age, Vlada began diving at the age of 10 where she excelled at the sport. She attended a school that catered specifically for elite athletes. Competing at a very high level both nationally and internationally, Vlada was Ukranian Junior Champion and also a member of the reserve Olympic squad for the Ukraine.

In 2002, Vlada's work with horses brought her to Ireland where, shortly afterwards, she began diving again with Dublin Diving Club. In 2009, Vlada won a gold medal in both the 1m and 3m springboard events at the XII LEN European Masters Diving Championships in Spain.

Vlada took over as head coach of Dublin Diving Club in December of last year and has done a fantastic job so far. We know she will do equally as great a job as national coach. The club fully support Vlada in her new role and wish Vlada and the Irish divers every success in the future. Congratulations Vlada!

3 new International FINA Judges in Dublin Diving Club

On the 28th-30th of January, David Linehan, Maeve O’Callaghan and Marie Ahern from Dublin Diving Club attended the FINA DIVING JUDGES CERTIFICATION COURSE at Southend-on-Sea, Great Britain.

This course was held in conjunction with the British Gas National Cup 2011 where Tom Daley and his synchro partner Peter Waterfield pulled off the most difficult dive in the world, their 4 1/2 somersault tucked.

Successfully completing the course requires exceeding an 85% pass mark in the written exam and 2 days of practical assessment of judging at the event, which also requires a pass mark of at least 85% in order to successfully complete the course.

David, Maeve and Marie are all level 2 qualified coaches in Dublin Diving Club as well as being competitive divers themselves and having 3 of its coaches achieving this level of qualification from FINA is something the club is very proud of.

Dublin Diving Club would also like to thank Swim Ireland for supporting the attendance at the FINA Judging School.

Fina Judging schools are held around the world each year. FINA Schools for Officials are intended to provide training and certification to judges and referees in all aquatic disciplines. In order to be included in a FINA Officials List, Officials must attend a FINA School in the respective discipline and pass the test given at the end of the FINA School.

For more information about FINA, go to www.fina.org

Swim Ireland Diving Courses (Winter 2010)

In conjunction with the 2010 Irish National Diving Championships, Swim Ireland will also run a Diving Recorders course and a Diving Judges course. The Recorders course does not require any prior knowledge but there is a pre-requisite for the Judging course that the participants have prior diving knowledge. 4 CPD points are available from both courses.

Recorders Course
Date: Friday, November 5th 2010
Time: 1 - 5 pm
Venue: National Aquatic Centre, Dublin
Cost: €30 (SI members) / €35 (Non-members)

Judging Course
Date: Friday, November 5th 2010
Time: 2 - 6 pm
Venue: Irish Institute of Sport, Dublin
Cost: €30 (SI members) / €35 (Non-members)

Anybody interested in the above courses should contact Trish Mayon at edo1@swimireland.ie or on 01 625 1138 to register their interest and secure a place on the course.

This December, Swim Ireland will also run a level 1 Coaching Diving Course

Level 1 Coaching Diving Course
Dates: 14th/15th/16th January 2011 (Dates for second weekend TBC)
Venue: National Aquatic Centre, Dublin
Cost: €400 (SI members) / €450 (Non-members)

Anybody interested in the coaching course should contact Sarah Campbell at eddelivery@swimireland.ie or on 01 625 1143 to register their interest and secure a place on the course.

More information on the above courses and many more can be found on the Swim Ireland website

Irish Open National Diving Championships 2010

The 2010 National Open Diving Championships will be held at the National Aquatic Centre on November 6th and 7th 2010

There will be 4 different events:

• Irish Open Age Group Championships
• Irish Open Senior Diving Championships
• Novice Skills Competition (8-16yrs)
• Novice Masters Competition (25yrs +)

Closing date for entries is 5pm Friday 15th October 2010 with Dive Sheets expected to be submitted before Tuesday 26th October.

Full details (including entry form) are available from the Swim Ireland website