A youthful approach is behind the success of up and coming diving club, Slipstream.

With a growing membership, one of the newer clubs on the Victorian diving scene is home to a tight-knit group of coaches and divers.

Central to the success of the club is an emphasis on small training groups as well as building strong club ties amongst members.

At competitions, Slipstream divers are encouraged to sit together and cheer on their teammates in a spirit of inclusion that harks back to days of diving past.

Reflecting on a recent diving meet, Head Coach Hector Simpson said that 'sense of team' remains prevalent.

“We had about 20 of our kids sitting in the stands cheering on every single one of our divers and it just brought a really good feeling.”

At Slipstream everyone is included, irrespective of how long they’ve been with the club or involved with the sport. Through this atmosphere of inclusion, Slipstream continues to grow, with its highest membership numbers in the club’s short five-year history.

This mix of flexibility and smaller training groups is earning Slipstream increased success in competitions and within the diving community.

“We’ve had a lot of success at Age Nationals. In 2015 we got a tie for second with my two youngest girls in the 11 and under diver of the year. We got second in the 12-13 girls and then second in the 16-18 boys and 16-18 girls and we won the club achievement award,” Simpson said.

In addition Simpson also came second in coach of the year and the club was runner up in the club of the year category. Whilst Simpson says all of these seconds are somewhat frustrating, it is only a matter of time before Slipstream moves into a winning position.

Simpson also attributes the club’s increasing success to the number of experienced level 2 coaches the club employs.

“We’ve got three level two coaches. This is one of the strong points I think we have, because we have so many coaches we try to give a one-on-one feel with the kids.”

Slipstream has around eight coaches and they train predominantly out of MSAC. Most of the divers range from 10 to 16 years of age, although the youngest diver is 7 and the eldest is a 21-year-old cliff diver.

The squad divers usually attend 6 to 8 hours per week of training. Some of the more advanced divers who are looking to push themselves further commit to around 11 hours per week.

For more information on the Slipstream Diving Club, contact Head Coach Hector Simpson on 0401 966 385.

Next week – Whitehorse Diving Club.