September to December Update

Since returning home from World Championship and my European holiday, there has been quite a few exciting events going on along with a lot of training and quite a few competitions.

In October I headed down to Melbourne with Danny as my dad married his fiancé Rita. It was a lovely wedding and lots of fun. We also managed to fit in some shopping at Chadstone, coffee with mum, a visit to Crown Casino and pizza at Lygon St.

In November we had the first competition was a new competition in Brisbane called the Down Under Classic, there were divers from all over Australia and a few Kiwis too. I was really happy with my performance, winning Women’s Platform and Platform Synchro with Melissa, and coming second in Women’s 3m Springboard. I was also happy because I got a PB on platform and good scores on the other boards. The two photos were taken by professional photographer Kenny Smith for Diving Australia.

In late November I headed off to Shenzhen, China with my coach Hui to do water harness. I did back 3 ½ off the 10m platform and it went really well!

The next day we drove to Macau to meet up with the other Australian divers and coaches, as we were having a week long Commonwealth Games preparation camp. Macau is a great place, a weird mix of Chinese and Portuguese, with casinos everywhere! Here is a photo of Mel, Hannah, Liv, Jaele, Shaz, me and Belle at the Venetian - so beautiful.

In mid December I was off to Sydney to compete in the NSW State Championships. The purpose of the trip was to reacquaint ourselves with the Homebush pool as the National Championship are to be held in Sydney from the 22^nd to 24^th of January. I was again happy with how I dove – gold on Platform Synchro, silver in Women’s 3m springboard and bronze on Women’s Platform. I was very pleased with my scores for platform Synchro and for 3m springboard.

The last competition for the year was held a week later and it was the Queensland State Championships which were held in Brisbane. Melissa and I won platform Synchro and I got silver in Women’s 3m springboard – again scoring quite well.

We got a few days off over Christmas, so Danny and I made the most of it by spending three nights at the Gold Coast. I had so much fun, it was a shame that it had to end. We spent time at the beach, also shopping and eating lots of gelati! Christmas lunch was spend with Danny's family which was lots of fun too.

European Holiday - London and Contiki

After the World Championships wrapped up in Rome it was time for my holiday!

I flew from Rome to London and spent 5 days at my friend’s house, and saw all the sights of Olde London Town. Went to Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, British Museum, Harrods, Tower Bridge, Shakespeare Globe, Big Ben, Tower of London, Camden Markets, Notting Hill, Oxford St, Westminster Abbey, Southbank, Covent Garden’s, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and best of all Wicked at West End! I loved London, I had such a great time!

Next I was off on a 10 day Contiki tour. It started in London and travelled over the English Channel, then through Belgium, to Amsterdam in the Netherlands’, St Goar and Munich in Germany, Tyrol in Austria, Venice and Lake Como in Italy, Lucerne and Lauterbrennen in Switzerland and Paris in France. It was fast and furious but it was great. Met lots of lovely people and had an awesome time.

I did all the cliche things - drank beer in Germany, white water rafting in Austria, built a snowman in Switzerland and ate snails in Paris!

13th FINA World Championships - Rome, Italy - 09

On the 11th of July the Australian Diving Team headed off to Rome to compete at the 13th FINA World Championships. The Australia Diving team includes: Alex Croak, Matthew Mitcham, Grant Nel, Sharleen Stratton, Melissa Wu and me.

I competed in the Women's 3m event, Women's 3m Synchro and Women's 10m Synchro.

My first event was the Women's 10m Synchro - I was disappointed with how I dove. Melissa and I came 5th only a few points shy of silver - frustrating.

A few days later I had the Women's 3m event, my goal was to make finals, which I did so I was very pleased with that. I came 9th, which was my best individual result at Worlds Championships.

My final event was the Women's 3m Synchro, Sharleen and I dove well, however I slightly missed my back 2.5, and we finished in 5th place - again disappointing. All in all Worlds Championships were not very good for me this time. But it will make me work harder for next time.

I loved Rome, the food, the people, the culture - not so much the driving, it's crazy. Whilst over there were we able to visit the Vatician City, the Collesum, the Trevi fountain and Spanish Steps. Dad and Rita came from Melbourne to cheer me on which was awesome!

Trip to Melbourne and meeting the Western Bulldogs

In mid May I went down to Melbourne to catch up with family and friends. It was great to see everyone and see mum on her birthday. Mum and I went to Koko Blacks for afternoon tea, we had a very indulgent chocolate sampler, which was my first taste of chocolate in over 8 months!

On the Saturday I went along to the MCG with my dad to see the Western Bulldogs play the Demons, after the game I was allowed to go downstairs into the rooms and meet a few of the players, including the captain Brad Johnson. It was great fun and hopefully I can do it again when the Bulldogs come to Brisbane to play the Brisbane Lions in August.

Check the link below to see the article on the Western Bulldogs website.
www.westernbulldogs.com.au/season2009/news/newsarticle/tabid/4112/newsid/77242/default.asp