DiveRVA Opens First Public Dryland Diving Facility in Richmond, Virginia
December 14, 2022, Richmond, Va. - DiveRVA, a 501c3 non-profit organization whose mission is to bring the Olympic Sport of Diving to Richmond, Va., will open the 3,500 square-foot facility, which will allow athletes and their coaches to train in a safe environment with diving specific equipment on January 21, 2023
DiveRVA announced today the Grand Opening Celebration of the first-ever public dryland diving Facility in Richmond, Va. This facility was created, with the philanthropic support of the US Diving Foundation, Ray C. Rude Foundation and other anonymous donors, to bring more accessible programming for diving to the Richmond community.
The Grand Opening Celebration and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony will take place on Saturday, January 21, 2023, from 12-4 pm at the new facility, located at 2256 Dabney Rd, Suite H, Richmond, VA 23230. This event, open to the public, will include a tour of the facility and equipment, a chance for youth to try some activities that mimic diving, and the types of exercises they may do at practice. This will also serve as an opportunity for youth and their families to learn more about local diving programs and speak to coaches and clubs that will now be able to accommodate more divers.
Prior to the opening of this facility, DiveRVA rented just over 400 sq ft at a gymnastics gym about 30 minutes outside of the city, and while divers and their coaches still need to travel an hour and a half to two hours on a regular basis to have access to aquatic facilities, they are now able to train locally for their dryland needs.
DiveRVA’s dryland facility is the first phase of the organization's overarching mission to build a full aquatic facility in the heart of Richmond to continue to engage more children and encourage them to participate in aquatic sports. DiveRVA is currently working with the Richmond Parks and Recreation Aquatics department to implement a program that will allow kids to learn the skills for diving in our dry diving gym and learn water safety from the city’s Aquatics Department, so they can be safe in deep water.
“We are thrilled to be able to make diving more accessible to the Richmond community. Aquatic sports are the only sports that also provide a life-saving skill. Diving instills confidence, focus, and discipline in its athletes which are carried with them off the pool deck and into the real world. DiveRVA is driven by a single goal; to build inclusive and successful diving programs in the Richmond area, and advocate for other communities in the U.S. to do the same. We believe that opening this facility has given us the unique opportunity to place our sport of diving in the center of a community and help raise awareness that everyone can be a diver.”
DiveRVA CEO, Diane Maiese
Founded in 2019, DiveRVA has already partnered with local organizations. Their recent initiatives include:
Swimsuits for Summer: DiveRVA hosts an annual swimsuit drive to provide proper swimwear to residents of all ages so they can access the public pools in the city of Richmond. Last summer, we were able to provide over 1000 swimsuits to the community.
Diving For Everyone: DiveRVA in partnership with St. Catherine’s School offered a Learn to Dive clinic which also provided an aquatics safety component, so all participants could be safe in deep water. DiveRVA offered the clinic in 2021 to Cultural Roots Homeschool Cooperative and 2022 to the Richmond Police Athletic League. Funding for the clinics was received from the USA Diving Development Grant funded by the Anthony Taylor Foundation and RVA Dive Team.
All are welcome to attend the event. For more information on the event or to sign your child up for free activities, visit: https://www.diverva.org/drylandgrandopening
To make a donation to DiveRVA to support future programming and athlete participation, visit:
For information on participating as a sponsor of the Grand Opening or DiveRVA contact sam@diverva.org
For media inquiries, please contact: kelly@strategicstorybook.com
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About DiveRVA
DiveRVA is a 501c3 non-profit organization based out of Richmond, Virginia focused on growing the sport of diving and making it accessible to the entire Greater Richmond Community. DiveRVA, believes that all individuals should have access to aquatic sports and is actively building programming and raising the funds to build an aquatic facility in Richmond that will promote and serve the entire community, regardless of circumstance.
Mission
DiveRVA exists to provide access to the Olympic sport of diving for everyone.
Vision
Create equal opportunities, growth and awareness to expand the diving community.