Diving: Heatly to debut for GB

A YOUNG Edinburgh diver will make his first appearance for the Great Britain junior team at an international event in Germany this week.

Fifteen-year-old James Heatly, from the Edinburgh Diving Club, will compete in Dresden at the meet from Thursday until Sunday after being selected following good showings at the Plymouth ‘Armada Cup’ in January and the Leeds ‘G Star’ event in March.

The party is led by members of the Great Britain junior talent development squad, which includes James’ fellow George Watson’s College pupil Grace Reid.

James’ father Robert said: “He is absolutely delighted to have been selected for his first GB junior cap. He is looking forward to the trip to Dresden and the opportunity to compete against divers all from all over Europe as well as some from further afield. Hopefully the Scotland caps and trips he has had over the last few years will stand him in good stead with this step up in level.

“He has been without top class facilities for nearly three years and to be back training in the Royal Commonwealth Pool [RCP] is fantastic. The pool, the boards and the dry land training facilities are all really good.

“Having said that, James really enjoyed training at Newbattle in Midlothian. The staff were really helpful and without that pool he would have had nowhere to train. To get to the stage where he has been selected for his first GB junior cap is a testament to both his hard work and the coaches at Scottish level and at Edinburgh Diving Club, particularly his own coach, Vicki Tomlinson.”

James is the grandson of Olympic diver Sir Peter Heatly.