Diving: Making the jump to judges' table

Simon Latimer almost made the Commonwealth Games in Manchester as a diver.

He will be in New Delhi as a judge.

Latimer (28), a prodigy of Otago master coach Dick Lamb, came close to qualifying for the 2002 Games.

He bettered the qualifying standard for Manchester when he won the men's open 1m title at the New Zealand championships at Moana Pool with a New Zealand record of 327 points.

But he needed to reach the standard of 315 points again at the Australian championships in Adelaide and fell short, finishing sixth with a score of 296.

He has put the biggest disappointment of his competitive career behind him and is now one of the most promising international judges in the sport.

"It is my first Commonwealth Games and I'm very excited about it," Latimer said from Auckland yesterday.

Latimer was New Zealand's top male diver when he retired from the sport in 2002 because of constant lower back pain.

He was born with one disc missing in his lower back and the constant pressure from diving led to a stress fracture.

He took time out for an overseas holiday and has been living in Auckland since his return in 2004.

He works at the Health and Disability Commissioner's Office in an investigatory role.

Latimer learnt the rudiments of judging during his competitive days in Dunedin.

He has been a Fina judge since 2008 and made his international debut at the world junior championships in Aachen, Germany.

Last year, he judged the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia.

"I received good feedback from Fina on my judging evaluations and as a result of this have travelled extensively this year," Latimer said.

He has judged events in Germany, Russia, Mexico and China and will officiate in Singapore and India before the end of the year.

The highlight of this year so far was the World Cup in Changzhou, China, last month.

Latimer will also officiate at the Youth Olympics in Singapore next month and the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October.

A member of the Diving New Zealand Development Committee, Latimer is responsible for overseeing the technical side of the sport.

He is also a national selector and strongly backed the choosing of 13-year-old Gabrielle Armstrong-Scott for the Commonwealth Games.

"I believe she will be the youngest athlete ever to represent New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games," Latimer said.

"It is very exciting for her, and the sport."

Armstrong-Scott, a year 10 pupil at St Catherine's College in Wellington, will represent New Zealand in the 10m platform and 1m springboard aged just 14 years and 34 days when the games open on October 3.

Latimer understands that age is not a major concern in diving; he first represented New Zealand at the world junior championships in 1995 at the age of 13.

He finished 18th at the championships in China and was 21st in the Czech Republic four years later.

Latimer represented New Zealand 11 times, the last of which was at the Australian championships in 2002.

He was Otago's top male diver for seven years and won 21 New Zealand men's open events.

He finished second on the platform at the Australian championships in Melbourne in 1998.

He broke nine New Zealand records, and his best performances came in the 1m (327 points).

Latimer is still a member of Diving Otago.