Calgary to Host the 2009 Pan American Junior Diving Championships

February 10th, 2009

Dive Calgary

OTTAWA– Diving Canada is pleased to announce that the City of Calgary and Dive Calgary will play host to the 2009 Pan American Junior Diving Championships at the Talisman Centre, September 10-13, 2009.

Held every two years, the Pan American Junior Diving Championships includes 200 participants from eight countries competing in four age classes. The Pan Am Juniors will be the pinnacle of the 2009 junior diving season for Pan American nations.  The 2009 Pan Am Juniors will be the first major international junior diving championship held in Calgary since the FINA World Junior Championships in 2000. 

“We are looking forward to hosting our diving friends from North America, Central America and South America in Calgary this fall,” says Diving Canada Chief Operating Officer Penny Joyce.  “Dive Calgary has great experience in event hosting and we look forward to working with them and their partners as we start to build momentum in this new Olympic quadrennial.” 

“Dive Calgary has always had strong representation on the Canadian senior team and more recently, on our junior national team,” adds Diving Canada Chief Technical Officer Mitch Geller.  “They set new standards in hosting excellence when they held the FINA World Junior Championships in 2000 and we know that they will take this opportunity to show the diving world a repeat performance this fall.”

The Canadian delegation to compete at the 2009 Pan Am Juniors will be selected based on results from the 2009 Speedo Junior National Championships in Victoria, which takes place July 9 – 12, 2009. Amongst the eligible divers to qualify for the team are two of Canada’s top junior divers who have already established themselves on the senior international diving scene and were members of the 2008 Olympic team: Riley McCormick (Age 17 of Victoria, BC) and Jennifer Abel (Age 17 of Laval, QC).

Divers between the ages of 10 and 18 will be competing individually on the 1 and 3metre springboards, and 10-metre tower. Teams will also be entered in the 3-metre synchronized diving event. 

The Pan American Junior Diving Championships, established in 2003, are held on behalf of U.A.N.A.  (Union Americana de Natacion) or the Amateur Swimming Union of the Americas.  The 2007 Pan American Junior Championships were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico at which Canada won 21 medals.

About Diving Plongeon Canada
Diving Plongeon Canada (DPC) was established in 1967 as a not-for-profit organization to promote the growth and awareness of the sport in this country. As a member of FINA, the world’s governing body of aquatic sports, DPC contributes to the development of globally accepted standards of excellence in diving and supports the rules and regulations of international competition. Representing nine provincial diving associations, 67 local diving clubs and close to 4,000 high performance athletes, DPC shares a national commitment to advance the art and sport of diving and to position Canada as the number one diving nation of the world.  For information, visit www.diving.ca.

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