A large group of competitors from the Windsor Diving Club are heading to the Ontario Summer Games in London.
The diving club was founded in 2016, making it a big moment for Ioana Marinescu, who came to Windsor to be the club's first coach.
Marinescu represented Romania at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. She tells CTV News she's proud of having 11 divers in the hunt for medals at the competition.
"It feels good for me that I'm doing what I'm supposed to do and they're succeeding," she says. "I like to teach them the basics and then build up on that."
The former 10-m diver calls the provincial games a stepping stone for her young divers.
"This is a buildup, in the past, from my experience, those are the kids that will strive to go to Canada Summer Games and from Canada Games those are the kids striving to go to the Olympics or make a national team," she added.
Diver Lia Doskoris says her patient coaching style has the whole team rising to new heights. Marinescu's divers took three gold medals at the provincial championships in Windsor two months ago.
"We've improved a lot in just two-years considering a lot of the other divers have been diving for five-six years," she says.
The games run from August 2nd to August 5th. 2500 athletes, ages 12 to 18, will compete in 21 sports, including athletics, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, cycling, rugby soccer, diving, archery, triathlon and volleyball.
Over 30 athletes from the Windsor-area will be taking part.