2008 Revelations

2008 Revelations: Mitcham (AUS), Daley (GBR), Espinosa/Ortiz (MEX) and Klein (GER).

FINA.org - Pedro Adrege - Editor-in-Chief - "FINA Aquatics World".

In a busy year for the diving family – with no less than four main international competitions, the Olympic Games, the World Cup, the World Series and the Grand Prix – many stars have confirmed their status as great champions. This was basically the case for the Chinese athletes, consistently at the top of the global hierarchy in recent years. At the Olympics in Beijing, the local competitors, led by the already legendary Jingjing Guo, proved that they are the undisputed world leaders in the discipline. Other successful divers such as Dmitry Sautin (RUS), Alexandre Despatie (CAN) or Melissa Wu (AUS) were in evidence throughout the season, but their solid performances were not really a surprise. On the side of the newcomers several names appeared at the highest level, which deserve special recognition at the end of a year that might have marked the peak of their careers.

Matthew Mitcham competing in Beijing.
 

The revelation of the year is undoubtedly Matthew Mitcham, from Australia. In the ‘electric’ atmosphere of the ‘Water Cube’ in Beijing, he managed to ‘steal’ the only gold that was needed for a complete Chinese sweep at the 2008 Olympics. In the men’s 10m platform, Mitcham remained steady and controlled his nerves in the last dive of the final to secure the gold with an amazing DD 3.8 attempt (back 2 ½ somersault 2 ½ twists, pike). At age 20, the new Australian diving hero, who was born in Brisbane but lives and trains in Sydney, reached the summit of a trajectory that had actually started at the highest level at the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal. In Canada, Mitcham was 12th in the 10m platform, only to improve the following year at the World Cup in Changshu (CHN), where he was fifth. Absent from the 2007 FINA World Championships in Melbourne (he took a year-off competition), the Australian champion was again fifth at the 2008 World Cup in Beijing and won the overall ranking in the 10m platform of the 2008 Grand Prix. Despite having proven himself a solid diver before the Olympics, Mitcham was not on the experts’ mind for gold in Beijing. But, his Olympic victory after taking maximum advantage of his main competitor’s mistake (Luxin Zhou, from China); ensures this Australian star will from now be considered a serious contender.

In Europe, the 2008 sensation is the young Tom Daley (GBR). Born on May 21, 1994 Daley started this year with a victory in January at the British Championships in his pet event – 10m platform. One month later at the FINA World Cup, he won the bronze with his teammate Blake Aldridge in the 10m platform synchro, before becoming the youngest gold medal winner ever (across the disciplines) in the history of the European Championships (gold in the individual 10m platform) this past March in Eindhoven (NED). After Qualifying for the Olympic games in Beijing as the second youngest-ever male British Olympian, Tom Daley was not so successful in the ‘Water Cube’, but reached the final (7th) in the 10m platform and finished eighth in the synchro event (also with Aldridge). After this result, he participated in September at the FINA Junior Worlds in Aachen (GER) and ranked second in the Boys B (14-15 years old) 10m platform. He is definitively a medal possibility for his country at the 2012 Olympic Games in London – until then, he still has many major events to prove his value.

Already a usual presence in international competitions in the latest years (but not always in the highest ranked positions), Paola Espinosa and Tatiana Ortiz, from Mexico managed an unprecedented feat in 2008: they gave their country the first female Olympic diving medal of its history. Third in the 10m platform synchro, Espinosa and Ortiz proved in Beijing that the successful Mexican tradition in this discipline is, from now on, not only reserved for the men. Individually, Espinosa (22) was perhaps expecting a medal in the platform event – she had been third at the 2008 World Cup and first in the World Series -, but after committing some mistakes in the Olympic final, she finished fourth. With Ortiz (24), she was more regular in the synchronised event, finishing behind China (gold) and Australia (silver).

Sascha Klein competing in Beijing.

Medalled in Beijing, Sascha Klein (GER) also deserves to be on the list of 2008 revelations. With his teammate Patrick Hausding, he was second in the men’s 10m platform synchro, a result that highlighted Klein’s good results in this event throughout the year. At the World Cup in the ‘Water Cube’ (competition that served also as a test event for the Olympics), the German champion had been the only non-Chinese gold medallist (winning in the 10m platform). This was an excellent indication of his shape, also confirmed by a third place in the overall ranking of the Grand Prix and a silver medal at the European Championships. At the Olympics, Klein was unrecognisable in the individual 10m platform, finishing in the 18th and last place of the semi-final. Even with this result, at age 23 he concluded a brilliant year and is certainly preparing a podium ‘assault’ at the 2009 World Championships in Rome – his best result so far at the Worlds is a seventh place in 2007 (in the 10m platform synchro).