Turin, The Capital of Quality and Hospitality
An exclusive report by Georgia Fyrigou-Consolo, LEN TDC Chairman for the LEN Magazine.
The 1st Independent European DV Championships has been conducted in Turin from 1-5 of April with enormous sporting success. The beautiful city of Turin which hosted the 2006 Winter Olympic Games once again showed to all European countries present at the Championships the deep transformation that the town had already undergone not only as the capital of industry but also as a city of culture and high quality of life. Turin is a town accustomed to the ?beauty? and has a rich cultural tradition. Today Turin is one of the main European capitals of Contemporary Art, of Cinema and is the one of the most prolific towns for the national pop-rock world as well.
Its perfect geographical position, its great tradition and historical background could underline the words of the great architect ?Le Courbusier? as the most beautifully naturally positioned Town.
The successful Organization of the Winter Olympic Games in 2006 has showed that Turin is not only a modern and attractive town but also a place that can easily demonstrate its passion, determination for success, organizational ability, and most important warm hospitality.
This ?heritage? counted a lot in organizing the 1st Independent European Diving Championships in an ideal way.
The Venue which hosted the championships was ?Piscina stadio Monumentale?, a 33 meter long pool, located in Corso Galileo Ferraris 294, was designed by architect Bonicelli in collaboration with Antonio Villanna between October 1932 and April 1933. The building which represents the most interesting examples of the proto-realistic architectural movement in Turin, hosted representatives from 21 European Countries and almost 150 divers and technical officials.
The inauguration of the pool, better known as Stadio Comunale swimming pool was made on 11th October 2006 after five years of reconstruction.
The competition management team under the guidance of the famous Gold Olympic Winner and today diving director Klaus Dibiasi gave its best performance so the competition could be conducted in a very efficient way.
The accuracy and professionalism of the diving secretary, the disponibility and kindness of the staff and volunteers brought some ?fresh air? into the atmosphere creating a future commitment, that TURIN can easily host another European diving event in the next years.
The very good structured Technical Officials Guide and Official Program gave the chance to all officials and spectators to be well informed for the competition.
Last but not least the very best Clown Diving Show performed by Osmos Team kept the temperature of laugh in high level.
Competition Interviews
As far as the competitions are concerned, the fact that many very important European champions and divers participated once again in various events demonstrated their diving quality and making the whole spectators stands shaking of emotions.
Europe and LEN once again demonstrated the progressive and continuous development of Diving. Europe and LEN proved to represent a continent with strong commitments and high quality projects. Europe and LEN once again showed that in the competitive field of diving the level is improved day by day and the new generation follows the successive legacy of former European Champions.
During the competition only few moments were found to make short interviews with some of the winners since the competition programme and technical obligation to run this Championships were enough to cover the rest of our daily presence on the playing field.
The competition scene opened with the Victory of Illya Kvashz from UKR in 1m Springboard Men, with 2nd Christopher Sacchin form ITA and 3rd Pavlo Rozenberg from GER.
For ?Ciccio? (nick-name of the Italian diver) it was its 1st silver medal in this event after winning 3 bronzes in a row in previous championships, and this made him very happy. He said he was even convinced that he could be the Gold winner. Now his attention is focussed on the Rome World Championships, in August.
Illya Kvasha the Ukranian diver from Nikolaev was not only the winner of this event but he managed to gain in total 2 gold medals (1m and 3m Synchro) and 1 silver (in 3m Springboard) in this championships. He is a student in Sports Education at State University of Nikolaev city and he was very satisfied by his performances. The last day of the competition in a relaxed mood wearing a bright smile on his face, he admitted that the competition was difficult not only because he had to compete 3 days in a row but also because many top divers participated. For the World Championships in Rome next August he is expecting to improve his performances and to collect more points that could give him the chance to win more medals.
In Rome he is expecting to find a bigger gym and warm up area for all divers to have sufficient space for preparation before the competition. He would like the Coaches Seating to be allocated as close as possible to the boards in order to have better communication with his coach and finally the divers rest area to be dedicated only for divers.
Olympic winner and European Champion for several times Aleksander Dobroskok was the Gold winner in 3m Men. ?This event was really exhausting for till the last dive we were not sure of the result ?Now I feel relaxed and I am really satisfied with my success?.
As far as the Italians are concerned the Italian champion Michele Benedetti could not make it better as he admitted after his success in 3m Men. ? I managed to win the bronze medal and this is what counts not only for me but also for my country. I totally concentrated throughout the event and the public gave my motivation and strength to fight for this success till the last dive?.
April 3rd meant one more celebration day for the Italians and for Marconi and Cagnotto families, since Tania Cagnotto won the gold medal in 1m springboard women and Maria Marconi was placed 2nd.
The same day ?Marconi Brothers? gave a great performance in the 3m Synchro event to the satisfaction of the Italian spectators, winning the bronze medal.
It was really an Italian day and during the 1m Women?s Victory Ceremony all spectators proudly sand the Italian Anthem even if the music stopped.
Cagnotto?s satisfaction
Tania Cagnotto was really satisfied with her performance. It was 1st time that she did not dive from Platform (last year she won women?s platform and she was 3rd in synchro platform alongside Noemi Batki) as she had focused on 1m and 3m Springboard lately. ?The competition was difficult but the determination to win a title in my home city was stronger. The audience gave me the positive pressure to fight with all my power. I am very happy now?.
Of course for Tania the competition was not over since she had to dive in 3m Springboard and 3m Synchro the next days. She didn?t know that European Championships in Turin would be her 1st Championships bringing her 3 golds since she managed to win the 1st place in 3m Women with second Olena Fedorova (UKR) and third Katja Dieckow (GER) and the 3m Sycnhro Women event alongside Francesca Dallape.
Of course all Cagnotto family was there and especially her Grandmother (Giorgio Cagnotto?s mother) who watched the achievements of her grand daughter very proudly.
Maria Marconi the silver winner of 1m Women was very determined to win from her first dive. ?After the accident I had at the previous European Championships in Eindhoven during the 105B dive in 1m and my absence from Olympic Games in Beijing that cost me a lot, I had to focus a lot on my event. I was prepared to fight for a medal and the preparation with my sport psychologist all year long helped me recover and work on a new mental approach before and during the competition, assisting me to perform consistently in the preliminary and final. My target was the Gold medal but with the Silver I feel really satisfied because all my dives were properly performed. A Champion always has to aim high in order to be enough motivated, to follow a program and to achieve success.
From now on I am concentrating for the World Championships in Rome next July.
For the World Championships in Rome it is very important for all divers to have an appropriately equipped gym and warm up area to be efficiently prepared before the event. The athletes? relax area has to be separated from the swimmers? area during the Championships. Our events started earlier but the last days for us to be together is a matter that organizers have to think about.
All constructions that are going to be built from now on would constitute an important legacy for Italian diving. The pool has to be renovated in the best possible way so that we can use it efficiently for future competitions and training. In Rome there is no proper training centre that could assist the preparation of the National team and this is the correct moment for improvements to be made.
All Italian divers of the National team are determined to represent our country in the best way during this Championship. We have done the same in all previous years so far. But once this period finished and the competition ended we need to be ?embraced? by the State and the Local Authorities in the proper way. We are not Champions only during the competition just aiming some more medals, we are also humans and we need a ?touch? from the state for our future plans to be implemented. We are ready to work with the new generation, to carry on with good examples and assist the newcomers grow up and develop in a healthy way inside and outside the competition field.?
A smile of an angel
Another European Champion who keeps capturing our hearts with her ?Angel Smile? for years is Dieckow Katja from GER.
Katja, born in 1984, is a very nice person and each time I had the opportunity to speak to her or to watch her during competition as a Referee or Judge my heart was filled with serenity and calmness. She said she missed two of her diving friends Anna Linberg and Barta Nora who could not participate in this championships as well as some of the old mates from German National team Annett Gamm , Heike Fischer, Andrea Wels, Tobias Schellenberg who didn?t come to Turin. The competition in 1m as well as in 3m was very strong especially in both preliminaries. She managed to win bronze twice in both events and this makes her very satisfied and happy. During the finals she had a good feeling starting with the first dive and that was a good sign for the whole competition.
Katja is a student in Biology at Halle University and needs one more year to Graduate. The city of Halle has approx 230.000 inhabitants and the last years lots of foreign students are studying at the University. She trains in the Diving Club of SV Halle/Saale, which has approx 10 Elite divers and 50 younger divers. Katja was satisfied with her bronze medal in 1m since she had not had the chance to be prepared enough for this event (only 3 weeks before the European Championships). ?I was mainly prepared for 3m Springboard which was my priority. During the 1m competition I did not see the ranking, I concentrated on my event but since Anna Lindberg and Barta Nora had not entered, I can admit it was easier for me this time. I had competed in FINA World Series before I came here in order to have more experience since the competitions were strong enough. I feel very satisfied with the two bronze medals and now I must focus on the FINA World Championship next July in Rome.
Some tips that could be helpful for the organizers on behalf of the divers : I am expecting to find there a bigger gym, better equipped than the one we had here, so all athletes can have sufficient space for preparation before and during the competition days. It?s very important for me that the warm-up area be close to the competition area as well as the coaches seating to be close to the diving boards so I do not need to walk too much or be far from my coach during the competition. Here in Turin it was difficult due to the limited space. In the Athletes area I would like sufficient quantity of fresh fruits and water as well as the possibility of 2-3 PCs so we can have the chance to be in contact with our families and our relatives?.
For a technical sport as Diving where the aesthetic part is combined with power and technical ability of each performer, it is very essential to be well presented to the TV spectators and to the public so we can have the best promotion for its future development. At this point it is very important to thanks all people who worked intensively during these days in TV, Media, Press and gave the chance to our beautiful sport to be well promoted throughout Europe.
Thank You Turin...!!! Lets dive for Rome...!!!
(Georgia Fyrigou-Consolo
LEN TDC Chairman)
