Perry holds off Weir
Kenny Perry closed with a 3-under 69 to win the Memorial with Mike Weir finishing second
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Kenny Perry closed with a 3-under 69 to win the Memorial with Mike Weir finishing second
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After more than a decade of “landing on her head” from the 10-metre tower, Émilie Heymans is opting to fly into the next Olympics off the three-metre springboard.
The 26-year-old diving star from St-Lambert, Que., said at a news conference Wednesday that she is committed to competing at the 2012 London Olympics, but she's dropping the physically demanding tower from her repertoire.
“The 10-metre has become really hard physically, and the older you get, the harder it is. The three-metre is hard in its own way, technically,” said the Brussels-born Heymans, who had won three Olympic medals off the tower, a solo silver at Beijing, a bronze in synchro diving at Athens with Blythe Hartley and a silver in the debut of synchro diving with Anne Montminy at Sydney.
“I felt like I didn't want to retire, but I also didn't want to do the 10-metre any more,” she said. The object is to go through the complex spins and somersaults of a dive and enter the water like a knife, making as little splash as possible – literally, falling on one's head. But thousands of drops from the 10-metre concrete platform eventually took a toll in neck and wrist injuries.
“I don't know if my body can withstand such impacts for another four years,” she said. “I've done three-metres before but it's just been something I did on the side. This time, it's going to be my focus. I'm only looking at the individual event. I haven't thought of doing synchro at all or considered who might be a partner.”
Heymans said she'd enjoyed two months off after the hard training heading up to the Beijing Games, where the host Chinese dominated the diving events.
“However that time away from the pool along with a meeting with my coach Yihua Li made me realize I still have a passion for diving as well as the training and competition that's involved. I'm not yet ready to retire from the sports world.”
Heymans has posted strong international results on three-metre. She won silver medals at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and 2003 Pan Am Games in Santo Domingo. She also has 10 national championship medals in the event and reached the finals on three-metre at the 2004 Olympics and at the 2001 and 2003 FINA World Championships.
Heymans knows there's a heavy workload ahead. “It's an enormous challenge,” said the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQUAM) student. “But Yihua Li and I are confident I can be a medal contender in London.”
Heymans said she will continue training under Li at Pointe Claire, Que.
“I have no objectives with regards to results for the next two years. My main focus is technical work and increasing the difficulty of my dives. I want to start with a solid technical base and build a competitive diving list that puts me on par with the best in the world.”