Hui Tong's Major Coup to Snare His “China Plate”
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Diving Australia Supported by HUI TONG’S MAJOR COUP TO SNARE HIS “CHINA PLATE” FROM THE US DIVING AUSTRALIA has pulled off a major coup by appointing heralded Chinese Olympic diver and coach Kongzheng Li to the role of Head Coach of the Victorian National Training Centre in Melbourne. “KZ”, as he is universally known throughout the diving community, comes to Australia with a wealth of Olympic experience both on the boards and tower and as a coach in the USA. As a competitor “KZ” (pictured left with his old friend and rival, Diving Australia head coach Hui Tong) participated in over 50 international competitions representing China and the USA between 1975-1998 - a stellar career highlighted by bronze in the 10m platform at the 1984 LA Olympics – where he defeated Hui, who was fourth. Gold in the 1984 Olympic final went to the legendary Greg Louganis (who also won gold on three metre) with Australia’s triple Olympian Stephen Foley, ninth. “KZ” and Hui met at a diving exhibition in China in 1976 – “KZ” was 17 and Hui just 13. “KZ” had joined the National Team in 1973 and in 1974 won the platform event at the Asian Games, making him “hot property” in China – Hui later joined the National Team in 1977. The pair had many battles over that time and at the China National Championships in 1982 the pair tied for first place on three- metre springboard. “KZ” moved to the USA in 1985 and returned in 1988 for the Olympic Trials – competing for a spot on the Olympic team against his old mate Hui. “KZ” won the event and a place on the team for Seoul. The same year the pair both retired from competitive diving. In a celebrated career, “KZ” would beat Greg Louganis four times – three on platform and once on three metre. “KZ” also combined competing and coaching in the USA, including stints at a number of leading colleges including George Washington University, the University of Texas, the University of Minnesota and Florida International University and he also served more than 20 times as a USA Diving National Team Coach, Team Leader/Manager and Judge for international competitions. Now settled in Melbourne, “KZ” will work with his long time friend and team mate Hui to ensure Australia’s diving talent continues to prosper long after the names Newbery, Helm, Barnett and Tourky have left the sport. And so far “KZ” likes what he sees – both in the water and out. TALENT SEARCH “I enjoy Australia very much and although I have been here many times before I had never been to Melbourne until now,” said the esteemed coach. “I love this city because it is a modern city and the culture is great but I am also impressed with the state of diving in this country. Diving in Australia has been really good on the world stage for years and I can see talent here too.” One thing “KZ” views as a challenge for Diving Australia is our lack of competitive divers. “One thing I have noticed is we don’t have as many divers around, we lack numbers diving at a base level. At my last club in California I had 60 or 70 divers but in Victoria, where we have some great talent, we don’t have the same numbers,” he said. “KZ’s” squad in Melbourne will be funded by Diving Australia and will act primarily as a feeder or development squad for the AIS program run by Hui in Brisbane, but “KZ” says it could also cater for senior divers based in Melbourne that are not able to move to Brisbane. 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS The group will have up to 10 members aged mostly between 10 and 18, with a focus squarely on the 2012 Olympics in London but “KZ” says there are a few that may be ready to make their mark sooner. “We will mainly have young divers preparing for the 2012 Olympics,” he said. www.diving.asn.au “We will build up to be as good as possible but in this program I can see a few competing in 2012 and some may even be ready for senior open level very soon.” “KZ” says he has his old mate Hui to thank for getting him down to Australia. “I almost came here a long time ago, about 10 years ago now, but things didn’t work out but now Diving Australia is doing well and the Federal Government gives more support and I knew I had always wanted to be here,” he explained in his Chinese- American accent that already has a touch of Aussie slang. “Hui really wanted me to come to Australia and without his support I wouldn’t even be here.” Together “KZ” and Hui, just might strike the right cord, with the future in very capable hands. David Lyall Chief writer – eSplash DID YOU KNOW? THAT the 12th FINA World Championships marks an historic occasion for Melbourne which will become the first city to host the Olympic Games (1956), Commonwealth Games (2006) and FINA World Championships (2007). WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TICKETS ON SALE Victorians are spoilt for choice when it comes to global events and next March will be no exception when Melbourne hosts the 12th FINA World Championships. The best aquatic athletes in the world will be in Melbourne from 17th March – 1st April, competing across five disciplines – Swimming, Open Water Swimming, Diving, Water Polo and Synchronised Swimming. Some 2000 elite athletes from 175 nations will hit Melbourne, competing for the title as world’s best. The Championships will be the biggest lead up event to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre will host Diving and Water Polo, the Open Water Swimming will be held at St Kilda Beach and Rod Laver Arena will host Swimming and Synchronised Swimming, with a 50m temporary competition pool to be installed. The 12th FINA World Championships has a bigger aquatic program than the recent Commonwealth Games and Athens Olympics. Tickets to the biggest aquatics event Melbourne has ever seen, the 12th FINA World Championships, went on sale on Monday, October 16, offering the chance to see the world’s best compete. Tickets can be purchased via the Ticketek website (ticketek.com.au), a dedicated phone line (1300 136 494) and Ticketek retail outlets. For more information about tickets please log on to www.melbourne2007.com.au. Partners of the 12th FINA World Championships are Yakult, AstralPool, Omega and Speedo. Diving Australia strongly urges all diving club members to put up your hands and help out at this great event. Details of the recruitment process and the application form can be found on the FINA World Swimming Corporation website: www.melbourne2007.com.au. www.diving.asn.au The 2007 World Swimming Championships Corporation announces changes to the Competition Program Further to the announcement that the 2007 FORMULA 1™ Australian Grand Prix will be held at Albert Park on Sunday, March 18 2007, the 2007 World Swimming Championships Corporation commenced a review of the competition program for next year’s 12th FINA World Championships. Specifically, this review assessed the impact that the 2007 FORMULA 1™ Australian Grand Prix has on the competition program for the World Championships – in particular the Diving program which was scheduled to commence on Sunday, March 18 2007. During this review process, the best interests of the athletes, teams and officials have been the most important consideration. The review also included consultation with a number of key stakeholders including the Australian Grand Prix Corporation and FINA. As a result of this review process being completed, the Corporation announced the following changes to the competition program for next year’s World Championships. Summary of changes to the Diving Competition Program • The Diving Program has been moved back a day so that it now commences on Monday, March 19th and concludes on Monday, March 26th. All events in the Diving program will now start a day later. • Preliminaries and Finals in the Diving program will start at the same time as scheduled in the original competition program except for the following: - On Day 8 of the World Championships (25/3/2007) the Women’s 3M Final will now be held between1500-1615 and the Men’s 10M Final will now be held between 1700-1830. - On Day 9 of the World Championships (26/3/2007), the Women’s 3M Synchronised Final and the Men’s 10M Synchronised Final will be held between 1530-1830. These changes to the Diving Competition program have been made to: • Ensure that the noise impact on the competition from the Grand Prix is eliminated; • The order of events in the original competition program is retained; and • There is no clash with the timing of Finals across the entire competition program. Summary of training arrangements at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) • The training period for the diving athletes will now be extended from five days to seven days – starting Monday, March 12th and Wednesday, March 18th. • 58 hours of training time at MSAC will be made available during this time. • No Grand Prix events are scheduled between Monday, March 12th and Wednesday, March 14th. • During these days 11 hours of training at MSAC will be available between 0700-1330 and 1500-1930; • Between Thursday, March 15th and Saturday, March 17th, training at MSAC is scheduled between 0700-0900 and 1800-2200. • On Sunday, March 18th, seven hours of training at MSAC will be available between 0700-0900 and 1700-2200. SHARLEEN TALKS UP A STORM: Sharleen Stratton after winning the women’s 1m springboard at the 2006 Australian Open Diving Championships in Melbourne, photo HSM www.diving.asn.au 2007 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre Albert Park, Melbourne NEW 18-25 March PROGRAM OF EVENTS DAY DATE TIME EVENT Day 2 Monday 19 March 10.00am – 1.30pm Preliminary Men’s 3 Metre Synchro Preliminary