A PERSONAL HISTORY OF DIVING IN SOUTHAMPTON

by Alan Alderman

Chapter 1 Episode One.

So how did it all begin then?

Well we have to go back nearly 40yearsto when our son Mark was 6 years old and the wife and I agreed that it was about time he learnt to swim. There was no way in this world that I was going to attempt to teach him as I was not the best swimmer in the world and like all things I believe that if you are going to do something as important as being able to take care of yourself in water you should be taught by people who do it the best. At that time there was nobody better qualified than the C.S.S.C (City of Southampton Swimming Club.) Apart from being about the strongest and best Swimming Club in Europe with a whole host ofOlympic, Commonwealthand European medal winning members, they also had a very strong lessons programme with a long waiting list. At that particular time they had a policy not to accept anyone into the Club unless theycould swim a width of the pool in at least three different strokes.

And so it all began. Our weekly trip to the Central Baths, as they were then called, and spending countless hours up in the balcony above the learner pool watching the son and heir attempt to swim non-stop across the width of the learner pool. It was a requirement that the learners had to be able to swim non stop across the pool before they could progress to the next stage of swimming their widths in the main pool. How many times our little‘darling’ got half way across, stopped, looked up at the balcony and waved to us, I can’t recall. We tried hiding behind the pillars in the hope that he would manage to complete his swim non stop, but no, he stopped and looked for us. It was at times like this that you were glad you could count to 10.

After weeks of trying he was there, he had made it and was due to move into the main pool at the next intake of lessons, until disaster struck…… would you believe, he fell off his swing at home and broke his elbow. That put him back weeks, as when he was well enough to resume his swimming lessons he had to start all over again and we were back to square one.

Well needless to say that eventually he learnt and joined the CSSC. We were expecting great things from our lad who had joined an elite club that boasted such swimming greats as Garry Abraham, Colin Cunningham, Steve Harrison, etc., unfortunately it was not to be. One club night the Head Coach Dave Haller called me to one side and explained that although Mark was a very strong swimmer he was not going to gain much too success due to being so short for his age. As most of the events he would be eligible for were age groups, Mark would be at a disadvantage even before the race began. Even when he stood on the starting blocks and the other swimmers stood on the pool side they were still taller than him. Dave suggested that until he grew whyhe didn’t try Diving to fill in the time. Mark was all for that. His mother was not so impressed. “Its 16’6” down that end of the Pool and he is used to swimming in 2’ 6”

So that’s how it all began. Mark never did return to swimming. He made his own ‘mark’ in diving instead.

So began our involvement with the sport of Springboard and Highboard diving all those years ago. Now after 40 odd years its time I feel to recall some of the happenings of that period of my life and put the record straight on a few misconceptions, The Good times. The Bad times. Happy memories. Sad memories. Amazing feats. Disappointments. Marvellous achievements. The Highs. The Lows.

The Scandals, The Celebrations. Yes I’ve seen them all.

The Good Times

The good and long lasting friendships made during that time.

The Bad Times

The hours spent on planes, coaches, trains and in cars travelling all over the world to different venues.

Happy Memories

Great Meets with great parties. Amazing venues around the World.

Sad Memories

The loss of so many dear friends. All so sadly missed.

Amazing Feats.

All those idiots and their comedy routines, all done under the guise

of entertainment. Great exciting new dives.

Disappointments

Just missing out on those few points which make the difference between Gold or Silver selection or not.

Marvellous Achievements

Olympics, World, Commonwealth, National, District ,County.

The Highs

Honours received. Time spent with friends.

The Lows

The demise of so many Pools and venues.

The Scandals.

Sex, Drink, Drugs, Oh yes even our sport is not immune to these perils.

Celebrations.

And there have been a few of those, believe me.

So where do we start. At the beginning I suppose would be a good place…..

As I was saying Mark was invited to join the City of Southampton Swimming Club and he chose the Diving Section as opposed to the Swimming Section which formed the main basis of the highly successful Club.

One must understand that at that time Diving in this part of the Country was practically non existent and in those days the only use of the diving boards we had were one and half hours on a Monday evening and the same on a Thursday. For many years Diving was certainly the Cinderella of water sports (and in some areas it still is). There were very few fully dedicated Diving Clubs in the country, most diving was carried out like Southampton with a small section attached to the local swimming club who always commandeered the lion’s share of the water time.

So began the routine that so many of today’s parents can associate with. Those long sessions, week after week watching their youngster trying to get off the board in some physical position that resembles a dive similar to that which the previous diver appeared to have little trouble executing. How come that last week he seemed to have little or no trouble with this dive and now he hasn’t got a clue. Is it all worth while you ask yourself? Yes I suppose it is. The coach (lying or otherwise) tells you he is doing very well!! Can’t see it myself but you rely on the coach who you feel knows better than you.

My how the times have changed. Today after just couple of weeks from the poolside doing jumps and rolls beginners are on the boards. In a very short space of time they are doing allsorts of fancy somersaults and twists. A bit different from the “old days” when divers were required to learn the five basic dives before they were even allowed to attempt suchcomplicated dives as a forward one and a half somersaults (103) for example. The five basic dives or Required dives as they were known formed the basis of all coaching and were ‘Required’ to be used in most competitions before and the diver was allowed to show off his fancy or ‘Voluntary’ dives. So as I was saying they were required to perform their five required dives in competitions before the voluntaries…..just imagine this……………..

Mark learning a Reverse Dive (301b) at the Central Baths

the competition had 25 or so entries (oh yes they did in most events in those days) so one would have to watch 25 forward dives (101), followed by 25 back dives (201), 25 reverse (301), 25 inward dives (401), and 25 forward dives with half twist (5111).. Pity the poor Judges who found it hard especially during Age Group events to stay awakeand alert on the Poolside. After watching 125 similar dives we were then treated to the twisting somersaults. Gosh and they say it’s and exciting sport.

Anyway we are getting a little ahead of our time. Our son had only just joined the C.S.S.C and was certainly not yet ready for the long trip to CrystalPalace to compete in competition. It was more of the same week on week poolside work with a few jumps off the one metre board. In the early days if he had done well during the session the coach might let him jump off the three metre board. As he progressed he was allowed to journey up to the five metre for a jump and very occasionally he would venture up to the seven and ten metre platform, creep to the end of the platform, peer gingerly over the edge and scamper back down again. PDQ.

In those early days the local pool in Southampton was known as the Central Baths which consisted of a thirty three and a third yards pool, two foot six at one end and sixteen feet six at the other with a one and three metre springboard and five, seven and ten metre platform. There was always going to be abattle with the swimmers for water time. Funny lot those swimmers, they didn’t seem to appreciate divers bombing down on them from the top platform as they swam their lengths.

The relationships between the swimmers and divers as well as water polo sections of the Club in those days were a little strained to say the least. As the Club was so successful in the swimming world at that time all the emphasis was on swimming and other sections of the Club, were, shall we say tolerated.

Louise attempting the Back Dive (201a)

The Diving section of the Club was restricted in its memberships due to lack of water time. As it was, the amount of dives the few members could get through in a session was obviously very limited. However we persevered mainly through the efforts of our coach, Stan Felgate.

Stan Felgate, City of Southampton Swimming Clubs, diving coach, snapped on a Club trip to Jersey. Looking over Stan’s shoulder is a very young Susie Bamber or Susie Ryan as she was then...

Stan was from the old school who believed that it was no good a diver attempting any multi somersault or twisting dives unless they could do their 5 basics. A brilliant coach who was also a top Fencing and Trampoline coach with several very successful Internationals to his credit Stan was an ex Army PT instructor who learnt his trade along side such greats as George Rackham, Wally Orner, Johnny Rasch and their like.

Many divers started their illustrious careers with Stan who had a tremendous eye for talent and had the ability to make youngsters believe in themselves from a very early age. One of his greatest gifts was teaching body mechanics and his knowledge of the twist and somersault movements were unrivalled. Many of today’s coaches are still using his methods. Never one to turn anyone away who wished to learn to dive he often annoyed divers, parents and members of his squad by ignoring them for a whole training session whilst he extolled the virtues of the sport to the newcomer. Mark was an instant hit with Stan who very quickly realised the lad’s potential and commented from a very early stage in his development that Mark had one of the most natural twisting talents he had ever seen. Stan’s biggest fault was to try and juggle his time between his sporting interests along with his profession in local property managment. Calls on his time often meant him having to miss training sessions and very often he would be unavailable for competitions.

It should be understood that although a lifelong member of the C.S.S.C Stan was alone in his efforts to promote diving within the club, so when along came some really enthusiastic parents he seized on the opportunity of getting them involved in helping out. Then again that’s a whole new chapter, yet to come………………..

The author would welcome any comments or queries on this series. If you have any questions or would like an elaboration on any of the topics mentioned in these memoirs please feel free to contact Alan Alderman on any of the links listed below. Should you require anonymity please list your enquiry as Restricted and we will ensure your confidentiality.

Tele. Home. 02380 445631

Mobile. 07884318149

E.Mail

Sun.March 2nd.2008

1