The 14-year-old diver Quan Hongchan may be China’s breakout star of the Tokyo Games, but she is just one of many elite athletes emerging from the southeastern province of Guangdong.
A coastal province bordering Hong Kong, Guangdong has become a cradle of world-class divers. While the Chinese national diving team is known as the “Dream Team”, the Guangdong contingent could easily be nicknamed “the dream team within the dream team”.
Quan was born in Zhanjiang, which boasts a population of 7.5 million, similar to Hong Kong. At the age of 11, she joined the province’s diving team and progressed to the national team after just two years of training.
Since 1984, the Chinese diving team have bagged 46 gold medals at the Olympics, 11 of which have been earned by Guangdong athletes.
Quan now joins Sun Shuwei (1990), Yang Jinghui (2004), Lao Lishi (2004), Hu Jia (2004), He Chong (2008), He Zi (2012), Luo Yutong (2012), Zhang Yanquan (2012), Chen Aisen (2016) and Xie Siyi (2021).
Just days before Quan, Xie won gold in the men’s 3m springboard with a record-breaking score of 558.75, and another one in the synchronised 3m springboard with partner Wang Zongyuan.
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The city of Shantou is home to Xie, as well as pioneers Li Hongping, Li Qiaoxian and Li Deliang. The three are honoured with a grand statue named “Rise Up”, located in the city’s central business district.
Chen continued his stellar performance from Rio 2016 and won a silver medal this year in the synchronised 10m platform event with partner Cao Yuan.
Xie teared up after his victory in the 3m springboard on Tuesday, mostly because of his provincial coach Wu Guocun, who died suddenly in June.
“Before the competition, I didn’t think too much but kept thinking of my coach’s voice. His voice was constantly on my mind,” an emotional Xie said.
Provincial coaches play an important role as they pave the road for athletes to reach the world level. They are also responsible for picking young talent, and to nurture them to be professional athletes.
On the day of Quan’s final, the Guangdong diving team gathered together to watch the live broadcast of the competition. Zheng Guanzhi, also known as the “Godmother of Guangdong Diving”, revealed the secret of the team success to the Chinese media at the live watching party.
“I have always insisted that divers must maintain the two basics of good physical fitness and technique,” Zheng said.
“Diving is a technically demanding sport, which especially requires athletes to accumulate feeling and stability from thousands of times of basic training.
“Our generations of Guangdong diving stars have created many highly difficult moves, but because they had deep basic skills, they basically did not suffer any major injuries.”
She also credited the success of the diving team to the hard work of its coaches and athletes, and a consistent flow of talent to the upper echelons within the province’s diving schools.
Ling Haichan, the director of a diving centre, said the natives of Guangdong are naturals in the pool because the south is a coastal province rich in water resources.
The older generation of divers accumulated a lot of experience when they practised diving on boats at river and sea. She added that the more petite size of the people serves as an ideal advantage in diving.
