Report by Jessica Pollack
Two Junior Divers from McCormick Divers in Long Beach are headed to Columbus, Ohio for the U.S. Youth Olympic Games Trials. On February 4 and 5, Deon Reid and Sydney Czaus will compete in this first leg in a journey to the Youth Olympic Games.
Several years in the making, this is the first year of the Youth Olympics. The diving competition is only open to athletes born in 1993 and 1994 who compete at the national level. Five thousand athletes from 205 countries are expected in Singapore to compete in 26 sports including diving.
McCormick Divers Coach, Charly Collins, says this is an amazing opportunity for Junior Divers to experience world level athletics. With the tight age range and close qualifying scores of divers expected to attend, he believes Reid and Czaus have a good chance receiving top scores in Columbus. Most of the Youth Games Trial divers will already be in Columbus for the USA Diving Winter Nationals.
Top finishers in Columbus move on to the FINA qualifying event in Guadalajara, Mexico in March. The competition has four main events on 3 meter springboard and platform competition separated into boys and girls. The top nine finishers in each event move on to Olympic style competition in Singapore August 14-26, 2010.
Poly High School Sophomore, Deon Reid is excited to attend the Youth Olympic Games Trials. He expects to encounter tough competition from divers he met at Diving Nationals over the past few years. Deon needs to perform his personal best to move on to Guadalajara.
Los Alamitos High School Junior, Sydney Czaus, has an excellent chance at moving on to the next leg. She will be up against many of the same competitors she has faced at the last USA Diving and AAU Nationals where she finished second in the platform competition.
Both divers train with McCormick Divers at the Belmont Plaza Pool. Head coach Debby McCormick says “We are all very excited to have our divers represent Long Beach and the United States on the world scene.” Debby and Asst. Head Coach, Charly Collins, train the divers six days a week with extra platform training every week from Kim Berbari. All three are very familiar with international competition and excited to help these excellent divers move up to the international competition level.