Tys vanDijk of Alma will compete in the Ontario Summer Games next week in London.
He joined the sport of diving two years ago at the age of nine. Before he started diving, vanDijk loved dragging his brother to Elora to jump off the Bissell Park bridge.
“It was fun, but my mom said ‘why don’t we pay someone to teach him and he can do this without hurting himself,’” he said.
Since then, he has been training with the KW Diving Club and has taken part in eight provincial tournaments. His participation in the Ontario Games marks his first chance to compete against divers from other provinces.
VanDijk is the only diver representing Wellington County at the games.
“It’s just me that’s into diving, in all my area,” he said.
He is also one of the youngest competitors. The games are split into age divisions ranging from 12 to 18.
Over 3,500 participants, including athletes, coaches and officials, are expected to be at the province’s largest multi-sport event.
The opening ceremonies were to take place on Aug. 2. The competition will feature 21 different Sports across various stadiums and arenas in London before the closing of the games on Aug. 5.
In the lead up to the provincial games, vanDijk has been training 16 hours a week. His main focus, he says, has been the three-metre dive, which is his favourite. It is also the board on which he got the most gold medals this year.
“I’ve always just done well on that board,” he said.
Diving is an individual sport. Athletes receive scores based on the degree of difficulty, which includes approach, take-off, flight and entry into the water.
VanDijk is already thinking about other competitions he wants to qualify for in the next few years.
“I want to get to where you can get sponsors from the competitions,” he said.
“There is a competition that takes place in Germany – it would be really great to go to that.”
All sporting events at the Ontario Summer Games offer free admission.
