Double diving skills with a twist

Impeccable timing and a sixth sense has seen two teenage divers hurl themselves into contention for next year's Commonwealth Games in a surprise event.

Wellington Diving Club rivals Gabe Armstrong-Scott, 13, and Alice Wylie-van Eerd, 19, said success came as a bolt out of the blue in the 3m synchronised event – a pairs competition first added to the Olympic programme at the Sydney Games in 2000. "As soon as we tried it, our timing was exactly the same, which is really lucky," Armstrong-Scott said.

With a six-year age gap, Armstrong-Scott and Wylie-van Eerd train in the same Wellington High Performance Aquatics squad under elite Chinese coach Steven Zhu. Both hold national individual titles and were paired in the synchro event for the first time in September.

Last weekend at the national championships in Auckland they launched an impressive display in the open 3m synchro event, performing a range of identical dives in tandem. They were surprised how well their timing and styles came together for the gold.

"It gives us a chance at qualifying and it's also really fun diving with another person. It's more enjoyable," Armstrong-Scott said.

The reward is another chance to wear the Silver Fern at New Delhi next October. They were named by national selectors as the only two divers in the Commonwealth Games training squad, and will now chase the NZOC qualifying mark.

This has been defined as a top-six ranking in the Commonwealth. Australia, Canada and England lead the Commonwealth diving rankings.

Their assault on the elite international circuit begins in February at grand prix competitions in Moscow and Rostock, Germany.

The World Cup in China in June will be their last chance to attain the required mark.

Armstrong-Scott dominated the national championships with five individual titles and three national records.

Wylie-van Eerd got one back in the 3m event, winning in 262.60 points, with Armstrong-Scott .30 points in her wake.

Armstrong-Scott also hopes to qualify for New Delhi in her best individual event, the platform, and the 1m and 3m springboard events. Wylie-van Eerd hopes for the individual 1m and 3m events.

They will intensify their synchro training before the overseas competition, and currently train 20 hours a week.

"For synchro it's also important that you dive well individually. It's not just the synchro that you're judged on," Armstrong-Scott said.

Wylie-van Eerd was also pleased with the new pairing.

"Everyone has their different style but we just seem to work so it's good," Wylie-van Eerd said.