The iDive team travelled to Hong Kong and Guangzhou over the December holidays to train abroad and also take in local culture.
For its 3rd international dive training camp, Coach Yan took a group of 8 divers to the bustling city of Hong Kong and the port city of Guangzhou over the Christmas holidays. Over the course of 2 weeks, the divers got to train in world-class facilities, utilize the expertise of Chinese dive coaches, observe elite divers from other parts of Asia, and take in the amazing Chinese culture. First stop was Hong Kong, where divers trained at the Kowloon Park Swimming Pool located right on the harbour. The Park is a huge public multidisciplinary area which hosts several sporting events and competitions, and also home to an aviary, bird lake and gardens. The divers also had the opportunity to visit several sights in HK, take in a sampan ride, and ring in the New Year amongst the bustle of people and city lights!
After leaving HK, the divers really got down to business. Their home for the next 10 days was at the Weilun Sports School in Guangzhou, a comprehensive elite sports school that trains 18 of Guangzhou City’s sports teams and produces some of China’s Olympic athletes! Although the divers had an intense training schedule, they were excited to take advantage of the advanced facilities and didn’t even mind waking up for 6 am runs with the other athletes staying at the school!
It wasn’t all work for the divers though, and they were given time to explore the modern and ancient city of Guangzhou including a boat cruise on the Pearl River and Canton Tower at night. The highlight however was being around other divers, including training with members of the Japanese National Team, watching the Guangzhou Provincial Team in action, and reconnecting with Chinese divers that participated in iDive’s International Invitational Dive meet held in Vancouver last October. Overall, the camp was a tremendous success with our divers coming home with an understanding of new training disciplines as well as an appreciation for the unique and diverse culture of China. Thank you Yan and Brad for a great trip!
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