...and the brilliant opportunity to introduce Acquawear to European Divers
I was so excited when I was given the opportunity of introducing my swimwear UK shop to divers from Europe and North Africa, during the Eindhoven Diving Cup (31 Jan -3 Feb 2019) held in the beautiful Pieter van den Hoogenband swimming stadium. Although I am very used of travelling to UK diving competitions to sell the diving swimwear to platform and springboard divers, the fact that I was travelling to The Netherlands, to a city I've never been before, with 50 kg of suitcases filled with bright men's swim trunks (from really cute TYR boys swimwear, to Delfina custom printed briefs in both swim trunks and water polo swim briefs versions) and swim costumes for girls & women swimsuits (colourful sublimated prints, in long lasting vibrant colours and different types of backs to suit every body shape) made me a bit nervous!
Before I even arrived in the Eindhoven train station, I started to feel more at ease as the organisers of the tournament were on the ball. They had a dedicated team of volunteers who were keeping in touch with all the teams arriving for the competition. My nervousness evaporated when meeting the lovely team of competition organisers, headed by Christine Praasterink, the tournament director and my lovely host.
I spent all afternoon in the volunteer's office and it was great to meet everyone, see the venue and watch the teams train. It just eased me in the routine of the following four days and helped me learn about the amazing work that the volunteers did at the venue during the past few days before the event, and behind the scenes since September 2018.
During the competition days, I spoke to numerous divers, coaches, parents (from the one hundred and twenty swimmers from twenty-six teams and thirteen countries) and every one of them told me how much they enjoyed this competition and how much they love this friendly and relaxed atmosphere of the tournament. Also they were praising the high level of competition.
From the first hour of the competition, the beautiful custom printed briefs got noticed and one of the Italian teams got kitted out with some, so the boys decided to wear them for the whole four competition days. They were probably as comfortable as expected from the Delfina brand, as Delfina are the official sponsors and they kit most of the Red Bull High Cliff divers. They were also lucky briefs, I guess, as the Italian boys won most of the gold and silver medals up for grabs in Eindhoven in their age groups. Watch out in the future for two names: Stefano Belotti and Francesco Casalini!
The girls costumes, the vibrant colours of Hoog and TSNine, beautiful and eye-catching designs (Kakao Friends anime designs, graphic and mermaid prints) with different types of thin strapped backs also attracted attention and the teen divers started becoming Acquawear customers. Every competition, from there on, had at least one diver wearing our amazing costumes.
I met so many lovely and really well behaved teen divers and I have no doubt that in the years to come I will be able to cheer for them in the future European, World and Olympic competitions. By the way, I want to say well done to our own Oliver Dingley, for achieving the qualification score for the Word Championships.
For the whole duration of the tournament, I was in awe of the professionalism, friendliness and punctuality of the dedicated volunteer team of the Eindhoven Diving Cup and I am looking forward to next year. Highly recommended for all diving clubs from all over the World!
Thank you Eindhoven Diving Cup!
Photos and videos courtesy of Eindhoven Diving Cup
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