College Sport: Top diver readies for leap at Germany

Waitakere College student Nathan Brown does not have many Kiwi peers in his sport. Picture / Dean Purcell

14-year-old has competed at home and in Australia, but new goal is another story

Dresden is a city in the east of Germany. It will be at the forefront of Nathan Brown's mind as he prepares to compete there at an international youth diving competition late next month.

The 14-year-old, Year 10 Waitakere College student is New Zealand's top-ranked platform diver for his age group.

"This is the second top event in the diving world after the world junior champs," says Brown. "I'm hoping to at least get into the finals. You do prelims, which is like a qualifier, then it's the top 12 or 18 into the finals, then you redo it for your placings."

There is still a lot of fundraising to do. A Don Oliver Youth Sports Foundation scholarship helps considerably with gym and travel costs, but there is a shortfall to get to Germany.

Brown trains hard, by New Zealand standards. He started diving when he was 9, just for fun.

"I started coming once a week to training. Then I progressed. I'm now doing seven sessions a week, up to three hours a session," he says.

That sounds like a hefty commitment, but Brown points to the top young divers from China and Russia, for example, who put in far more than that. Training hours at a young age are a necessity in this exacting sport.

Brown says Dresden will be his biggest competition by far. He has travelled to Australia and competed in Hamilton and Wellington, but this is far removed.

He is a regular on the 10m platform dive, though he won gold or silver in the 1m, 3m, and 10m at the 2014 nationals for his age group.

He is good at "getting into the zone", shutting out all distractions and focusing clearly on what he has to execute. What is going through his mind as he stands on the platform?

"Either nothing or on the dive technique I have to do."

Training is at Waitakere's West Wave facility, where he has come under the tutelage of coach Aurelie Gibson. She's strong on technique, and that is clearly rubbing off on Brown. One of his Waitakere clubmates is Henderson High's Lizzie Cui, a Rio 2016 hopeful.

The 2020 Olympics are on his horizon. Not many Kiwis reach that level in his sport, though Liam Stone (of Albany Senior High) went to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games last year, placing seventh. Brown admits to having few role models or idols. Diving does not often feature on TV here, so he has to picture himself winning, pulling off a close to perfect dive, and the glory of gold medals.

He completes his dive. It feels good as he breaks the water, but often he is at the mercy of the subjective nature of dive judging.

Later in the year Brown will be heading back to Australia for the junior elite diving nationals. On April 1, he'll be a favourite at the Auckland SS diving champs at West Wave. And then, back to Dresden on his mind.

3 Things about Nathan Brown

1. He is the first New Zealand diver in 29 years to score straight 10s in competition

2. He qualified last year for the Dresden event

3. Read more about Nathan Brown and his Dresden trip at givealittle.co.nz/cause/nathanbrowndresdengermany2015