Diving: Young talent making big splash in diving world

Liam Stone will compete in the open class for the first time this weekend. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

At 12 years old, few could blame Auckland diver Liam Stone for feeling daunted heading into this weekend's national championships at Henderson's West Wave Aquatic Centre.

But the youngster is taking a big step up in competition in his stride - it will be his fourth nationals after all.

Stone, who will compete in the 12-13 years age group as well as an open event for the first time, does admit to feeling a wee bit nervous about the step up to senior division, but that is about as far as his apprehension goes.

"I'm a little bit nervous I guess, but I've been to a few nationals so I know what to expect," said Stone. "The open level will be a lot harder because the judging is harder and there's tougher competition."

It also makes for a busy three days for Stone, who will line up in the 1m and 3m springboard divisions and the 5m platform at age-group level and the 1m men's open event.

And Stone has set his sights high. He said his goals for the weekend were to win his events, set new personal bests and, all going well, maybe even nab a couple of records.

The national championships are the biggest event on the New Zealand diving calendar, with all six of the country's clubs - North Harbour, Waitakere, Waikato, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago - represented.

Wellington, the most dominant club, is sending 21 competitors north, which include most of the country's elite competitors.

Stone is one of just a few young divers from Auckland making his mark on the national scene. The Albany Junior High School student is already streets ahead of anyone else in the country in his age group, and in his national representative debut captured two golds and one silver medal in the Australian Elite Junior Championships.

Keen to follow in the footsteps of his older half-brother Nicholas Lachance, who is a top Canadian diver, Stone first got involved with the sport when he was just 7 years old.

"One day my Dad said 'do you want to give it a go as well?' and I thought it would be good, so I started and I've been doing it ever since."

It takes a certain kind of fearlessness for the slightly built youngster to attempt an ambitious new dive from nausea-inducing heights, but it is something Stone takes in his stride.

"When I was younger, I remember being scared of the 3m and 5m. But if you're scared of a dive the more you try the easier it becomes."

After this weekend's event Stone will be gearing up for a trip to a major international event in Montreal in December and a shot at qualifying for next year's junior world champs in Arizona.

Diving is not a sport that Kiwis have traditionally excelled in on the international stage, but Stone is one in a handful of young up and comers who are tipped to have bright futures in the sport.

Another stand-out competitor who has impressed over the past year is Wellington's Gabe Armstrong-Scott. The 13-year-old is the New Zealand open women's champion and is regarded as the brightest female prospect in the country.

Next year the talented teen, who is coached by the internationally renowned Steven Zhu, will compete on the world Grand Prix circuit in an attempt to qualify for the Commonwealth Games. If successful, she could be the youngest to represent her country on that stage.

Another Wellingtonian to watch is Alice Wylie van Eerd, who competed at last years World Junior Champs in Germany, missing out on a place in the 3m finals by just 0.05 of a point.

She too will be competing on the Grand Prix circuit next year and chasing qualification for the New Delhi Games.

With so many top young prospects coming through the ranks, New Zealand diving is undergoing somewhat of a resurgence after experiencing a lull five or six years ago.

This has coincided with several highly qualified, fulltime coaches such as Zhu being brought on board to run high-performance programmes.