The Bloor-Annex Town Crier - April 1998 Sports Diving club only one of its kind in downtown Toronto By Jeffrey Lund

Since 1996 the Central Toronto Diving Club has been a springboard for athletes aspiring to higher levels and a haven for those seeking enjoyment and satisfaction.

"It's a huge challenge," said diver Maria McGibbon, who joined the club two years ago. "When you finally (master a dive) it feels so good, it's overwhelming, I find it a lot of fun."

Maria, 16, is a former competitive rhythmic gymnast who went to the World Championships in 1996 for group competition. She made the switch to diving because of recurring knee problems, she explained.

"My knees were really bad from training, so I thought I'd try diving," she said. "I basically had to retire and it was time to try something different."

The North York resident, who trains two hours, three times each week at the club, said the sport has been a lot friendlier to her body.

"I use the boards basically to jump and I've also stopped growing," she said.

Annex resident Taylor Borris became interested in diving through her stepmother, a former competitive diver.

"It's just a lot of fun, you get a rush going off the board or learning something new," she said.

Taylor, 15, currently needs to master one more dive before moving up a level within the club.

"At this point I just want to get on the next level. At some point I want to go to Level I," the Grade 9 Ursula Franklin Academy student said.

Based at the University of Toronto Athletic Centre Pool, the club boasts a membership of 65 divers who range in age from six to 48, explained head coach and club founder Anna Dacyshyn, a former competitive diver whose accomplishments include a include a gold medal  finish at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

Dacyshyn, 28, trained at the Athletic Centre during the late '80's and retired from the sport in 1992.

"It was a University (of Toronto) program when I trained here, then diving actually got cancelled," she explained. "Back then it was a very elite-level club.

"When we all moved on there was nothing to keep it going."

After not finding any diving clubs in Toronto, Dacyshyn decided to start her own.

"I just sort of took it upon myself to keep diving going downtown," she said.

Although diving is a fun sport with great physical fitness attributes, many don't think of getting their children involved in a club, said Dacyshyn.

"It's not one of those sports that people get put into as a child like hockey and gymnastics," she added.

Dacyshyn's ultimate goal would be to have a good mix of recreational and competitive divers, with some in the top levels of competition.

"That would be something I would like to see in the future," she said.