Raw talent
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Upon meeting Sammy Agustin, one might be surprised the shy, soft-spoken 13-year-old is often in the spotlight before hundreds of people.
Considering the White Rock Divers member is undefeated in B.C. with a gold medal in one-metre, three-metre and platform events in his age group, it’s no wonder he has garnered both provincial and national attention.
In fact, Agustin returned from Age Group Nationals last month with a bronze in three-metre, and was sixth choice to represent B.C. at the 2009 Canada Games in P.E.I. last week.
What makes Agustin’s story even more impressive is the fact he has only been diving for three years.
“They call him the boy with springs in his legs,” coach Grant Brehaut said. “He gets the same height boys 10 years older than him are getting.”
Agustin was introduced to diving when swimming with his friends at a Guildford pool, where someone saw him doing flips into the water and suggested he join a two-week diving program. When Brehaut first watched the youngster, he recognized natural ability and recruited him to White Rock Divers.
“I saw he was really talented.”
Agustin now trains six days a week at both the South Surrey Pool and Vancouver Aquatic Centre.
His next goal is to compete internationally, and his achievements have qualified him for such an event in December in Quebec, where countries such as Mexico, U.S. and Germany will be represented.
“It’s a great way to get recognized,” Brehaut said.
White Rock Divers founder Bev Boys said it is rare to see a diver achieve so much after such a short period of time in the sport, and credits a quick twitch he has in his ankles when leaving the diving board for his ability to gain awesome height.
“It’s really a blessing in a club when you get natural ability like that and a kid who’s easy to coach,” Boys said.
“He’s able to go through the water very clean,” Brehaut added. “There’s a lot of grace in his diving.”
While Agustin isn’t sure how far he’ll pursue diving, Brehaut said he has a bright future ahead of him.
“We’ll keep going,” he said. “You never know – diving is pretty unpredictable. It looks like he could go very far.”
And he may not be as quiet as he comes across, Brehaut noted.
At the B.C. Games, the coach remembers waiting for a bus and seeing people form a circle around someone. When he walked over, he saw Agustin in the middle of the crowd, breakdancing.
“He’s very soft-spoken, but I don’t think he’s shy.”
For more information about White Rock Divers fall registration, visit www.whiterockdivers.ca
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