The national Team at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing
At the Pointe Claire Diving Club, a week is 25 hours of training. Our training obviously comprises many dives, however it is most of all a good physical and mental preparation. In order to achieve my objectives, I surrounded myself with a team of specialists. Let me present you this team starting with Yihua Li the head coach of the Pointe Claire Diving Club.
Yihua Li, a former Chinese Olympic team member as well as silver medallist at the 1986 World Championships, coached me with Anne Montminy to a silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in synchronized diving. The same year she was named Diving Canada's Coach of the Year and received the Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award.
Mélanie Olivier, the nutritionist, balances my meals so that I can maintain the body size of a model and have sufficient energy to follow Yihua's training schedule. This represents quite a challenge when you like chocolate and fries as much as I do.
Denise Duff, the massage therapist, takes care of my little injuries and helps me with my muscles to regain all of my flexibility.
Penny Werthner, sports psychologist, learned me how to focus on my technique instead of focussing on the result.
Alain Delorme, physical and performance consultant, is helping me improve my power and endurance, while at the same time retaining my flexibility. Thanks to him my take-offs are more explosive and my entries stronger. While we concentrate on body building exercises, we certainly don't overlook focusing on flexibility. In effect, the tighter my pike and tuck positions are, the faster my rotation is and, consequently, the openings of my dives have a better chance to be completed higher.
My team is also the national team members, Alexandre Despatie, Blythe Hartley, Marie-Eve Marleau, Nicholas Leblanc, Arturo Miranda, Mélanie Rinaldie, Roseline Fillion, Meagan Benfeito. Even though I participate in an individual sport, team spirit is important. It is this team spirit that creates a fun atmosphere during training and moral support during competitions. I invite you to consult their page at the following web site http://www.diving.ca.
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