Singapore to field largest-ever diving squad at World Aquatics Championships

SINGAPORE: A mix of veteran and up-and-coming divers will represent Singapore as part of its largest-ever diving contingent at the World Aquatics Championships that begins on Friday (Jul 11).

The team comprises 10 divers, including five debutants. In comparison, it fielded four divers at the previous edition in Doha last year.

Diving is one of six disciplines making up the competition programme, and will take place at the OCBC Aquatic Centre in Kallang.

In all, 13 medals will be up for grabs during the 22nd edition of the Championships that runs until Aug 3.

After a hectic year of preparations involving training camps and overseas competitions, Singapore's diving team is ready to shine at home.

Daniel Campbell, Singapore Aquatics’ sport director (artistic swimming and diving), told CNA that he sees some divers potentially going through to the finals.

"We've not been in that position before (but) definitely semi-finals are on the cards. The expectation is not just to be there. We want them to turn up and put on a really good performance,” he said.

Campbell added that the team’s strategy for the competition is based on putting forward the best divers for each event.

“For every event that we have, we have certain qualification criteria that they've got to meet, so (we are) just making sure that we have a team that goes out to really put on the best performance that we can for Singapore,” he said.

Technology has also played a part in improving the performance of the team’s divers as they prepare for the world championship.

National head coach Charlie Tu said the team has recently begun using video feedback tools to analyse the performance of its divers. 

 “We use the data to compare to the higher level of other (divers) in the world to