Montreal, October 13, 2021 – Diving Plongeon Canada (DPC) is pleased to announce the recruitment of world-class diving coach, Hui Tong, to join its flagship program at the Montreal Diving Institute (MDI).
Hui Tong, who was born in Wuhan City, China, represented his country as a member of the national diving team between 1977 and 1989. He is a two-time FINA World Cup men’s 10m platform champion (1985, 1987) and finished 4th at the 1984 Olympic Games. After retiring in 1989, Tong was the head coach of Dive Calgary where he led the club to win several national and international medals. From 1990 to 2000, he trained Eryn Bulmer (1997 World Cup Champion) and Blythe Hartley, in addition to representing Team Canada at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. From 2001 to 2016, he continued coaching at the Australian Institute of Sport. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, he led the team to a historical result of one gold, one silver and four bronze medals.
Following the Rio 2016 Games, Tong was recruited by France to lead their diving program towards the Paris Olympics. Due to the suspension of programming caused by the world pandemic, he headed back to Australia for family reasons. He will now be welcomed back to Canada to share his expertise with the athletes and coaching staff at the Montreal Diving Institute.
“Hui is regarded the world over as a supremely capable, knowledgeable and expert coach,” says Mitch Geller, chief technical officer of DPC. “Given the strong bonds he has maintained within the Canadian diving community during his successful tenure in Australia, Hui represents the perfect candidate to hit the ground running in the abbreviated cycle leading into Paris 2024 where Canada aims to claim its most-ever Olympic diving medals.”
Hui will hold the title of head coach at the MDI and is expected to begin working full time at the institute in early 2022.
“I couldn’t be happier to rejoin the Canadian diving family,” remarked Hui. “While my time in Australia has been a fantastic experience for my family and me, I am more than eager to return to Canada where I will do my utmost to support all my coaching colleagues and contribute in any way I can to the international successes of Canada’s many talented and deserving athletes.
Hui Tong takes over the head coaching responsibilities at MDI following the departure of national team coach Arturo Miranda. Miranda has been a major contributor to the Montreal Diving Institute program since 2012 and was instrumental to Canada’s international success during this time.
ABOUT DIVING PLONGEON CANADA
Diving Plongeon Canada (DPC) was established in 1967 as a not-for-profit organization to promote the growth and awareness of the sport in this country. As a member of FINA, the world’s governing body of aquatic sports, DPC contributes to the development of globally accepted standards of excellence in diving and supports the rules and regulations of international competition. Representing nine provincial diving associations, 67 local diving clubs and close to 4,000 high-performance athletes, DPC shares a national commitment to advance the art and sport of diving and to position Canada as the number one diving nation of the world. For information, visit diving.ca
For more information:
Maelle Dancause
Manager, Communications
Diving Plongeon Canada
514-475-4540 | maelle@diving.ca