BY Malaysia Star,

THESE divers, some as young as seven, are from one of China’s many provincial sports schools, and hoping to someday represent China in the Olympics. Even though some of these athletes are too young to make the 2008 Beijing Games (the minimum age for diving is 14), they harbour dreams of winning Olympic gold in London 2012 or beyond.

The selection criteria for divers are stringent and even include the body type that coaches believe will make the least splash when entering the water. The recruits undergo strength and flexibility tests to detect aptitude and, once chosen, train rigorously five days a week.
Diving is one of the sports in which China has made dramatic progress since returning to international sports in the late 1970s. Since 1984, China has been a powerhouse in the sport. At the last Olympics in Athens, China outclassed its rivals with a total of nine medals, six of them gold.

Among the famous names in the sport are Fu Mingxia, who was the youngest Olympic champion ever when she won the 10m platform gold at the age of 13 in Barcelona in 1992, and Guo Jingjing, the world’s No.1 and China’s highest paid female athlete.

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