A South Surrey senior who helped start a local diving club has come home with two medals after competing in the World Aquatic Championships in Singapore last month.
Margaret Connors, who started White Rock Divers with Bev Boys in the 1990s, used to dive when she was younger but didn't really think about competing in it again until fairly recently.
Now 71, Connors competed in the Masters division in Singapore. She trains with White Rock Divers Masters coach Teri York, an Olympian whom Connors dove with for 10 years when she was eight to 18 years old.
Despite injuring her arm prior to the world competition, Connors still travelled and gave it her all, winning the bronze in the 1 metre competition, and a silver for her platform performance, where dives are taken from 5- and 7.5-metre platforms.
"I absolutely loved every moment of it. That was my first time going to a world Masters," Connors said Monday (Sept. 15).
"I think I was the second oldest from Canada to go. There was a man that was in the 75 to 80 age group, and then there was me, so I was very happy to compete and that everything held up."
Unfortunately, she re-injured her arm during her platform diving in Singapore, but that won't stop Connors from competing more.
"It was a nice souvenir to come home with," Connors quipped, adding she plans to dive in local competitions where possible and, with training, aim for the Worlds again in two years in Budapest.
"It was just a fantastic experience and I'm really looking forward to 2027, because this one was so inspiring and wonderful."
Boys, also an Olympian who competed with York, was happy to hear her longtime friend and diving club co-founder had won two medals at the World Masters contest.
"She probably should have had three medals," Boys said, remembering how she and Connors had children around the same time, and would always meet at the grocery store and talk about starting up a diving club for the area, which is how White Rock Divers came to be.
Boys encouraged people of all ages to get involved with diving, especially people curious about diving off the boards or towers at Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre, which isn't always allowed if there aren't enough lifeguards — but those with White Rock Divers club can use them.
Although the pool is currently closed for maintenance until Oct. 8, Boys encouraged area residents to give diving a try, no matter what age.
"We have a three- to five-year-old old program now, and everything in between up to Masters," Boys said. "If you join the diving club, it's not hard to get on the diving boards ... and you don't have to have your sights set on the Olympics."
