National – Centenary Year (1988) – European Diving Cup
European Diving Cup
30 March/2 April 1988
Royal Commonwealth Pool, Edinburgh
The most important Annual event in the Diving Calendar, with about 20 European countries represented. Each team consisted of divers, men and women, taking part in both the Highboard and Springboard competitions. The first two days comprised a team with each diver performing the full range of dives.
On the final two days, a new format of head to head individual “knockout” competitions was held between the top 12 ranked divers from the Team contest. In this way, a high level of excitement was sustained throughout the few days of competition.
As a specialised sport, Diving had fewer numbers taking part due to a dearth of facilities in Scotland, but those who participated were dedicated and enthusiastic.
The most famous Scottish Diver was been Peter Heatly — it is claimed “that to be a successful diver one must not only possess an alert brain but that the muscular system must be capable of immediate response to the impulses of the mind”.
This seems to sum up the character of Peter Heatly. He competed in the 1948 Olympic Games in London and in the 1952 Games in Helsinki. He also took part in three Commonwealth Games — 1950 New Zealand, 1954 Canada and in 1958 Wales. European Championships in 1954 and 1958. He represented Great Britain from 1947-1958.
Chairman Bill Law also had a distinguished career as Diver (1958 Commonwealth Games) Coach and Administrator.
Two young divers of outstanding potential in Stephen Forrest and Peter Smith both performed with great credit in the 1986 Commonwealth Games achieving a higher standard than any previous Scottish performer, especially as the sport became more complex. In 1987 Bill Law was Team Manager to the British Team which competed in Sofia, Bulgaria. The German Democratic Republic were winners of the Men and Women’s events and of course the combined. G.B. finished 8th in the Mens and 6th in the Womens, with 6th place overall a creditable show. Seventeen countries competed.
Robert Morgan (Wales) in spite of a back injury, finished 4th in the Men’s Highboard event.