Diving Program With Deep Talent Pool

Top diving competitors from across the nation are in Irvine this summer to work with three nationally recognized coaches--and the program is not limited to top competitors. Divers of all ability levels from age 5 to senior citizens may sign up.

The McCormick Diving Team, named after coach and former national champion Debbie McCormick, has caught the attention of the most promising U.S. divers.

Among them are a young woman from Kansas training for the Summer Olympic trials, two competitors from Harvard University and a former 3-meter springboard national champion.

“This has just happened by word of mouth,” said Coach Janet Ely-Lagourgue, a 43-year-old Mission Viejo mother of two who won the world platform diving championship in 1975. She also competed in the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics.

“For those individuals out there who have a real passion for diving, we are capable of taking them to a world-class level,” she said.

Andy Kwan, an Olympic bronze medalist for China, also works with top-level competitors at the Heritage Park Aquatics Complex in Irvine.

“These three coaches are very recognizable names in the diving world,” said Ed Crofts, aquatics supervisor. “We have some kids who are actually relocating to the Irvine area to participate in this program.”

The coaches hope eventually to operate a year-round program.

“There is an untapped opportunity to create a program with divers from the nearby junior colleges and UC Irvine,” Ely Lagourgue said. “There is a real talent pool here.”

Ely-Lagourgue was head coach of the Mission Viejo Nadadores for eight years. She left in 1993 because of an illness in her family. She recruited the other coaches and won city approval for the program in April.

She has been diving since age 6. “I had been in gymnastics and loved it, but I also loved swimming. Diving seemed like a perfect combination of both,” Ely-Lagourgue said. “It’s the challenge of being able to somersault and twist and go up in the air and land on your head.”

Participants may sign up at any time. Information: (714) 559-0474.