In The News

Two Bridlewood girls started the diving year off with a bang, collecting four medals at the Capitol City Dive Meet held at the Nepean Sportsplex last weekend.

The Nepean Ottawa Diving Club collected a total of 35 medals at the tournament.

Thamar Spitzer, 15, scored a personal best in the threemetre dive, good enough for a silver medal in the Tier 1 girls diving event, ages 16-17.

“I’m extremely happy,” said the Grade 10 Bell High School student. “This year I hope to qualify for the nationals.”

Morgan Saker, 12, had a day to remember in girls ages 12 to 13 Tier 1 competition on Feb. 12-13, picking up a gold medal in the three-metre and a silver in the one-metre events.

Both girls have a shot of competing in the nationals, said Fernando Henderson, the head coach of the Nepean Ottawa Diving Club.

“I think the performance for both girls was really very good,” said Henderson. They’re both excellent.

Thamar, a veteran among the young divers, is focused on learning more difficult dives, which will only improve her score at meets, said her coach.

Morgan, who has only dived competitively for the past two years, looks to have a bright future in the sport, he added.

“She’s already one of the top in her age group in the province,” Henderson said.

Morgan’s next competition is the Forest City Invitational (Tier 1) scheduled to be held in London, Ont. From Feb. 25 to 27.

The event is a qualifier for the upcoming Tier 1 national dive competitions to be held in Pointe Claire, Que. from July 7 to 10.

Thamar and Morgan will also compete in the John Dickenson Invitational, a national Tier 1 diving qualifier in Etobicoke, Ont. from March 24- 27.

Both girls have already qualified for the provincial championship, which will be be held May 20-22 in Thunder Bay, Ont.