Cindy Shatto

Cindy Shatto

Personal information
Full name	Cynthia Shatto
Born	(1957-06-16)June 16, 1957 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died	October 2, 2011(2011-10-02) (aged 54) Miramar, Florida, United States
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight	126 lb (57 kg)
Sport
Event(s)	Platform diving
Coached by	Don Webb
Retired	June 1978
Medal record Women's Diving Representing  Canada British Commonwealth Games 1974 Christchurch 3 meter Springboard

Cindy Shatto (June 16, 1957 – October 2, 2011) was a Canadian diver. She won a gold medal in the 1974 British Commonwealth Games 3 meter springboard event and competed in the women's 10m platform event at the 1976 Summer Olympics.^[1]

Shatto began competitive diving when she was 8 years of age and would win all diving events of her age group at that time. She was admitted to hospital in 1972 and needed her gall bladder removed due to eating too much greasy food, leaving her weak and unable to train during the winter of 1971. In 1973, she and fellow diver Linda Cuthbert moved into the family home of her coach Don Webb, where she would train for up to five hours a day, six days a week, only taking rest on Sunday.

Shatto retired from competitive diving in 1978 after growing tired of a nomadic lifestyle. She died of lung cancer on October 2, 2011 at the age of 54.

Career[]

Childhood and early development[]

Born in June 1957,^[2] Shatto started competitive diving at the age of 8 in her family's back yard pool in Willowdale, Toronto. Her father would play diving games with Cindy, using a long garbage sweeping pole for her to run and leap over "like a porpoise". Under the early coaching of John Dickinson, won "just about every age-group meet she entered". At the age of 9, she would practice 33 feet (10 m) platform diving at the Summerville open-air pool, although as it was built on the edge of Lake Ontario, sometimes the wind would blow her off the tower. Occasionally, the extreme cold weather would turn her blue after 20 minutes of practicing, but never complained. By the age of 10, she had experience with playing the violin, acrobatics, contemporary dancing and baton twirling. Her mother described her as persistent, saying that "if she discovered something she couldn't master, she'd get mad, sulk, but stick it out until she got better."^[3]

In her earlier years, she got used to eating excessive amounts of chips and gravy, with other kids using it as a nickname for her. In 1972, she was admitted to hospital with constant stomach pains due to excessive amounts of greasy food consumption. Her gall bladder had to be removed, leaving her weak and unable to train during the winter of 1971–1972.^[3]

Competitive diving[]

By 1973, she had been living with her coach Don Webb and his family for three years and would train for four to five hours daily, six days a week or longer when preparing for a major competition. She and Linda Cuthbert, another diver who also lived with the Webb family, would train for an hour at lunchtime, with a heavier workload on Saturday and a rest day on Sunday. Describing her life in 1973 up to that point, she expressed that "Diving has been my whole life, just about. I enjoy it. I like the competition, the travel and I like meeting people. It has kept me from being bored." Shatto would show little emotion during a competition, except upon winning and did not like her father watching her diving as they would both get nervous.^[3]

In 1974, under the coaching of Don Webb, Shatto won a gold medal in the British Commonwealth Games hosted in Christchurch on the 3 meter springboard diving event.^[4] Following her commonwealth success, she had established herself as the likeliest contender in Canada to win a gold medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics, being described as "one of Canada's best divers". Her coach Don Webb described her as being a natural diver with class, suggesting that "what other divers have to learn comes naturally to her. She's got the style and determination".^[5]

She announced her retirement from competitive diving in June 1978 on the eve of the 1978 Commonwealth Games, citing the "nomadic life of a world-class athlete" as being the primary factor in her loss of interest in the sport.^[6]

Personal[]

During her diving career, Shatto measured 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m) tall and weighed around 126 pounds (57 kg). She attended Rideau High School^[3] and her father, Dick Shatto, was a professional Canadian football player.^[2] Her mother was Lynne Shatto and Cindy was the third of five children.^[3] She died of lung cancer on October 2, 2011 at the age of 54.^[2]

References[]

External links[]

• Cindy Shatto at Olympedia
• Cindy Shatto at the Commonwealth Games Federation