Cleve Dheensaw

Three-year-old Chloe Geller jumped from the one-metre board into the inviting blue waters of the Saanich Commonwealth Place dive tank moments after some of the greatest divers in the world had splashed there in the Canada Cup. "Based on the Chinese performance, we have to get our divers started early," quipped Team Canada coach Mitch Geller, as he helped with the event take-down while his daughter splashed away happily in the pool.

The Chinese team, deadly and agile, took gold in seven of eight events at the 2004 Canada Cup. In the previous Grand Prix event earlier this month at Zhuhai, China, the Chinese swept all eight events.

Not that Geller has to worry much about the team he will be sending to the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. The two reigning world champions on the 10-metre tower -- diving's equivalent of the track 100 metres -- are Alexandre Despatie of Laval in men's and Emilie Heymans of St. Lambert, Que., in women's.

And Canada has a third world championships medallist in Blythe Hartley of North Vancouver. The terrific trio of Despatie, Heymans and Hartley delivered three silver medals for the host country at the Canada Cup, culminating with Hartley's silver in the women's three metre on her 22nd birthday Sunday before a large and appreciative gallery.

"This is the biggest crowd we've had for diving in Victoria since the Games (1994 Commonwealth Games)," said Victoria Boardworks coach Trevor Palmatier of the packed stands, whose club worked hard to help stage the Canada Cup.

Hartley, the 2001 world champion and 2003 world bronze medallist, had 362.40 points in a truly world-class women's three-metre final. The winner and 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics silver medallist Jingjing Guo of China, the defending world champion, won the event with 381.75 points. Vera Ilyina of Russia, Olympic gold medallist in three-metre synchronized and fourth at Sydney in the three-metre individual, took bronze with 354.33 points.

"The intensity is very high this year because it's an Olympic year," said Hartley, who took a year off from her athletic scholarship at USC to concentrate on Athens.

"It kind of hit me this weekend that the Games are three months away. It's exciting to think about, but we have a day-to-day job to do and we have to focus on that."

Sunday's other final had the potential to top the women's three metre but the men's 10 metre lost its marquee names when defending world champion Despatie hurt his shoulder and pulled out while defending Sydney Olympics champion Tian Liang of China also scratched after being injured in training and left with badly bruised and scraped forearms when he hit the five-metre platform on his way down. Even Olympic champions make mistakes.

"Of all the things to happen to the Olympic champion... and in our pool!" said Palmatier.

In the absence of the world's two best male tower divers, Yang Jinghui of China won the Canada Cup event with 570.42 points. Commonwealth Games medallist Leon Taylor of Great Britain was second with 517.56 points and Matthew Helm of Australia, tower silver medallist and synchronized tower gold medallist at the 2003 world championships, was third with 471.60 points.

Despite being denied the Despatie-Liang showdown, the diving in the Canada Cup was brilliant as the world's best divers readied for Athens.

"Our kids (Victoria Boardworks divers, several who are expected to be future Olympians) were just floored watching this," said Palmatier.

"You get almost numbed by it to the point that people weren't impressed by dives that got scores of eight, because there were so many that got nines and even 10s."

The CBC will show the Canada Cup over three Saturdays in one-hour packages to run May 8th, 15th and 22nd at 11 a.m.

"It's good exposure for our sport," said Hartley.

But a golden summer in Athens would be the best exposure of all.

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