By Jaime Woo

Mark Rourke has had a busy day. As head coach of Dive Toronto, based out of the University of Toronto, Rourke has been arranging a meet-and-greet for his divers with Canadian diving star Alexandre Despatie. The Olympic silver medalist will be in town at various McDonald’s, and the fast food chain is asking Rourke for local kids to appear alongside Despatie. Meanwhile, the phone has been ringing constantly as registration for Dive Toronto’s fall season has just begun. “Enrollment always doubles after the Olympics,” Rourke notes.
Rourke has been carefully following the Canadian performances in diving at the Beijing Olympics, which resulted in two silvers by Despatie and Emilie Heymans. He believes the Canadian success will inspire the children in his program: “They can see a vision of the possibility and potential [of how far they can go] that they may not have seen before.”
Interest in diving has grown since Rourke performed in the finals of both the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Rourke understands the allure: “Diving is a spectator sport. I think people like the theatrical component to it and recognize the talent involved.” Followers of the sport during the Olympics may have noticed that the competitors appear friendly and supportive of one another—unlike gymnastics some other sports. Rourke says that although participants want to win, diving is different because there isn’t animosity in the competition. “There’s an appreciation and respect for each other in the sport. Diving really brings the community together. Kids who are training four or five times a week build a camaraderie and know that everyone is there for a common goal. It’s something kids then come to recognize at a job.”
For future Olympic hopefuls, Rourke believes a good diver will have “discipline again and again and a will to win.” Genetics also plays a part in terms of the flexibility and body type a diver has. Another important component, Rourke stresses, is a proper facility to train in. Dive Toronto currently trains at the Athletic Centre at the University of Toronto, which has been a strong supporter of the program, but “Toronto does not have a global facility that divers can train and compete in,” says Rourke. “Our aquatic facilities are deficient.”
If Toronto had won the bid for the 2008 Olympics games, a new pool would have been built, Rourke notes, but those plans ended with the failed bid. Now that Toronto plans to bid for the Pan-Am Games, Rourke encourages planning ahead: “Divers need to be able to train in the right facility to be successful.” If the city waits until it clinches the bid to start construction, Rourke warns that the pool “will come too late.”
New diving facilities would not only benefit Canada’s Olympic diving hopes, but would also provide more capacity for Toronto citizens to try the sport. “It’s a great exercise that strengthens the core with its unique movements,” notes Rourke. “We even have people in their 50s and 60s signing up.” And it’s never too late to start? Rourke laughs: “If you can go in headfirst, then you can dive.”
Photo courtesy of Mark Rourke.