Off to Nationals. Diver took a leap from gymnastics

Arpon Basu

Roseline Filion just needed a little inspiration.

By age 10, the Laval native had been trudging along in the world of gymnastics for four years, and though she had Olympic aspirations, it became all too clear to her that she would not reach the goal continuing on that path.

"Gymnastics was asking too much of me, I was too young for that," the 16-year-old said last week. "I had a kind of mental block, I just couldn't do it anymore."

Enter Annie Pelletier, the local hero who took bronze in the 3-metre springboard competition at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

"It's a bit because of her that I'm in diving today," Filion said.

The Canadian diving program owes Pelletier a big thank you, because Filion is poised to become one of the country's elite in the sport.

In 2001, Filion made her mark by taking second place in the one-metre springboard and 10-metre tower events at the junior nationals to qualify for the Junior Pan Am Games in Mexico City.

Despite her tender age of 14, and the fact it was her first international competition, Filion won silver on the tower and took fifth in both the one- and 3-metre springboard events.

"I was really nervous," said Filion, who trains at CAMO diving. "I was looking at everyone and wondering what I was doing there. But I just stayed in my little bubble and everything worked out great."

Filion made her international Grand Prix debut a year ago this month in Madrid and opened a lot of eyes by finishing fifth on the tower in the preliminaries, though she wasn't eligible to compete in the semifinals because of a technicality.

"I can still remember all the athletes coming to congratulate me," she said. "I was really surprised with my performance. I knew I could make those dives, but to pull them off in my first Grand Prix was really special."

She followed that up with a sixth-place finish on the tower at the Canada Cup Grand Prix in Victoria last May and another silver medal on the tower at the Junior Pan Ams in Brazil to earn a spot as the youngest member of Canada's national senior team.

Filion left yesterday for the senior nationals in Calgary this weekend. But most important for her is the Olympic Trials slated for this summer, where she'll compete with Canada's best for a chance to go to Athens, though she's not putting too much pressure on herself.

"I didn't think I would be able to participate in the trials, so it'll be a nice experience," she said. "If I go to the Olympics this year, it would be a bonus. I really wanted to use this year to see what an Olympic year is like, to see if I want to continue until 2008. Now I know that I definitely want to go to the Olympics at least once."

Assuming she's up for it, that appears to be a lock.

The Amateur Sports page appears on Wednesdays. To see Roseline Filion in action, tune into Global news (Cable 3) tonight at 6 and 11.

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photo : IAN BARRETT, The Gazette.

une page mise en ligne le 24 mars 2004 par SVP

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