Doha, Qatar, February 10, 2024: The World Aquatics Masters Championships will shortly bring together some of the best veteran athletes from around the world, including a 100-year-old diver from Iran.
Seventy-three years since diving to a silver and bronze medal at the inaugural Asian Games in New Delhi in 1951, Taghi Asgari will once again take to the springboard - this time at the World Aquatics Masters Championships from February 23 to March 3 in Doha.
The oldest competitor at the championships, Asgari performed a ceremonial dive before the World Aquatics Championships women’s 3m springboard final at the Hamad Aquatic Centre on Friday, February 9 to mark the two-week countdown to the Masters.
Earlier this week, Asgari told World Aquatics that he had given up competitive diving at the age of 41 but was returning to dive in Doha due to his love of the sport.
“When I was competing at a national level, the last championships I did was when I was 41 years old,” said Asgari.
“I achieved a gold medal at the national level and, after that, I said goodbye to the sport - but at least with a gold medal.”
Asgari’s international diving career commenced at the inaugural Asian Games in New Delhi in 1951. Since then, the Asian Games has grown from 489 athletes competing in six sports in 1951 to 11,935 athletes competing across 40 sports at the 19th Asian Games - Hangzhou 2022 last year.
Asked about his thoughts of the evolution of the sport, Asgari is quick to note that he has the same love that he had all those years ago as a teenager.
“The first time I attended the Asian Games in New Delhi in 1951 the level of diving in Iran was very high and I achieved two medals,” he said.
“But by the time the Games were in Tehran in 1974 the Chinese swimmers had entered this beautiful sport and they started to improve a lot - we just couldn’t catch them as we stayed at the same level from where we started.
“For me, I have had a love of diving since I was a teenager until today. I have always loved diving. Nothing has changed between 1951 and now, except my performance!”
As to his advice for those competing at the World Aquatics Masters Championships in two weeks, or for those considering joining the championships at Singapore 2025, Asgari tells World Aquatics there are two key fundamentals.
“The only thing I want to tell you is about loving this sport and to keep yourself healthy. This can be a good motivation for you to attend these championships and different championships.”
ABOUT TAGHI ASGARI
Taghi Asgari was born in 1924 in Tehran. He is chairman of the development committee of the Iran Swimming Federation.
He has taken part in 11 national championships, winning nine gold medals and two silvers. After winning the gold medal in the national championship at the age of 41, he retired from competitive diving.
“In February 1951 I took part in the first Asian Games in New Delhi. Back then there were no indoor swimming pools in Tehran,” he said.
“I took part in the Games without enough preparation. I participated with four days of training and earned a silver medal in platform and a bronze in springboard events.
“Fifteen years later, I took part in the 4th Asian Games in Bangkok in 1966 and ranked seventh in platform.”
Asgari was a judge at the World Championships in Colombia in 1975, assistant referee at the Montreal Olympic Games in 1976 and a judge at the World Championships in West Berlin in 1979.
He was also invited to judge in international competitions in Beijing in 1989. He was executive manager of the diving competitions at the 7th Asian Games in Tehran in 1974 and took part in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in 2010 at the invitation of the Asia Swimming Federation and inaugurated the diving competitions.
His main occupation has been in construction, especially in national projects such as designing and building swimming and diving pools for more than 70 years.
