Diver has his eye on the prize

Page 26

Wegadesk Gorup-Paul is no longer doing flips in his backyard. Instead, the 18-year-old Victoria resident is performing and starring on the national and international stages.

Gorup-Paul, Mi'kmaq, is a member of the Canadian senior men's diving team. He's hoping to represent the country at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Gorup-Paul is the reigning Canadian men's champion on the 10-metre platform. He won the title at the senior nationals held in Winnipeg this past June.

That performance earned Gorup-Paul a berth into a World Cup competition which was held in China in July. He placed 10th in that event, which was the first World Cup meet he had participated in.

One year earlier Gorup-Paul had finished 17th in the 10-metre platform event at the world aquatic championships staged in Montreal.

It's highly unlikely Gorup-Paul's mother had any inklings of her son's sporting greatness when she decided to get a trampoline at the family's home.

"I was just playing around, doing flips in the backyard," Gorup-Paul said. "And then my mom got me started in diving. From there, one thing led to another."

Gorup-Paul has been diving for eight years. And for most of the year now, he eats, drinks and sleeps diving. He graduated from high school a couple of years ago but has opted to put off any possible post-secondary education until after the '08 Olympics.

During his diving season, which usually runs October through July, it's not uncommon for Gorup-Paul to be training from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day, with just a two-hour break.

He's hoping this type of dedication lands him a spot on the Canadian 2008 Olympic squad.

"That's obviously the pinnacle of any sports career," Gorup-Paul said of his possible Olympic participation.

Canada will be allowed to send a maximum of two representatives in the men's 10-metre platform to the 2008 Olympics.

Prior to that, however, Canadian national team members will have to try and earn the maximum two Olympic qualifying berths at various competitions. In order to do that, they must meet certain qualifying standards.

If those standards are met, then in 2008 a Canadian Olympic trials meet will be held to determine the country's representatives for Beijing.

So what does Gorup-Paul enjoy most about his sport?

"Mostly the travelling and getting to meet people from different parts of the world," he said.

Gorup-Paul can't instantly recall all the countries he has competed in but he believes it is more than a dozen.

Besides Canada and the United States, he's participated at meets in China, Cuba, Australia, Germany, Russia and Brazil.

Gorup-Paul is believed to be the first Native athlete on the Canadian senior diving squad. It's a sport that hasn't managed to attract many Native competitors.

"There are a couple every now and then," said Gorup-Paul. "But there's no reason for the lack of Natives in the sport. In general, it's a sport that doesn't appeal to a lot of people."

Gorup-Paul said hurling one's body off a 10-metre board into water can result in a certain amount of fear. And he also believes there's another reason why a great number of people are not turning to diving.

"It's a pretty expensive sport," he said, adding elite divers can spend anywhere between $3,000-$15,000 each year they compete in the sport.

As a national team member, however, Gorup-Paul does not have any financial concerns when he travels to meets as his trip expenses are covered by the sport's national federation, Diving Plongeon Canada.

Gorup-Paul seems to be taking the fact he's a national champion in stride.

"It feels pretty good," he said. "But it's not an ecstatic feeling. It's more a feeling of satisfaction in what I'm doing and knowing that I'm doing the right thing."