The Long Term Athlete Development Model is the cornerstone of the Nadadores Diving program. Developed by Istvan Balyi, it is a multi faceted approach on which to build an entire diving program. It is rooted on scientific principles of development based on adolescent physiology and child psychology. While the rest of the world has immersed their programming in this development model for over a decade, the United States remains stuck in the past. Though the U.S. has more wealth, numbers of divers, and incredible facilities spread across the country we often fall short of our rich history of success in international competition. Our shortfalls can be traced to lack of proper development of young divers. Our international deficiencies are due to a system and competitive structure that relies heavily on the difficulty of a skill for short term gains and results, as opposed to slow and sustained development over time. Development that yields long term success well into the future.

There is no one party responsible for this. Parents, athletes, and coaches in the United States have all wanted the same thing; divers progressing quickly to win now, at a young age. What we fail to realize is that there is no accurate correlation between short term results and long term success at a high level. There is no quick pathway to long term success at the senior level. The progress in a pipeline of ultimate success is slow and incremental, and it is achieved over many years of focused and specific training efforts. Through the education of stakeholders (coaches, athletes, and parents), our mindset can be rooted in a patient and process oriented approach throughout the years to reap benefits in the long term. The primary goal of the Nadadores Diving program is to instill a lifelong love for sport and activity in our athletes. The secondary mission is to progress our athletes in a manner that allows them to reach all goals they have in the sport.