Anna Pysmenska—European diving champion and Olympic finalist—made her debut as a judge at the European Junior Diving Championships, recently held in Budapest.
The event marked an important new chapter in Anna’s sporting career, this time serving as an official at one of Europe’s most prestigious junior competitions.
“It is impossible to put into words the emotions and impressions this championship gave me. It was fascinating to experience the complete opposite role: as an athlete, you are the one being judged, and now everything is the other way around. It is equally exciting because it requires focus, preparation, an in-depth knowledge of the sport and its rules, quick reactions, and at the same time the ability to see the bigger picture while paying close attention to every detail.
In just a few seconds, you have to award a score and be able to fully justify it, as the judges’ work is also assessed by observers from the European Aquatics Technical Committee. Whenever there are significant differences in the scores given by the judging panel, these situations are reviewed during the technical briefings. It is entirely possible that your score may differ from the others, yet still prove to be the most accurate assessment of a particular dive.
This has been an invaluable experience that will certainly help me grow, give me greater confidence, and open the door to officiating at the highest-level international competitions in the future. It was also a wonderful opportunity to work alongside experienced judges, learn from them, and put my own knowledge into practice,” the Ukrainian official said.
Last year, Anna Pysmenska, together with Oleg Kolodii, successfully completed the European Aquatics judges’ training programme and was admitted to the organisation’s pool of judges. More recently, she also passed the examination to become a World Aquatics Bronze Level Judge.
For Anna, the European Junior Championships in Budapest became another important step towards earning the opportunity to officiate at the premier championships organised by both World Aquatics and European Aquatics.