Cyril Buscke

Cyril Buscke was something of a pioneer for New Zealand diving. Not only did he represent New Zealand at two Commonwealth Games, but he also attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, on a diving scholarship in the late 1960s.

Initially from Rotorua, Buscke later moved to Napier and represented Hawke’s Bay. As early as 1964 he showed unusual potential, finishing runner-up in the junior nationals and third in the senior men’s competition.

Buscke, 1.78m (5ft 10in), won seven national titles from 1969-74 – four on the springboard and three on the platform.

At the 1970 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games he was progressing quite well and was in 7th position in the 10-strong field in the springboard when he was forced to withdraw with injury.

He had his second shot at the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch in 1974, but did not strike his best form. He was 6th in a field of seven after the preliminary round and in the final slipped down to 7th with a total of 440.73 points.

Even while he was still competing he did a little coaching. For a time, Rotorua-based Rebecca Ewert travelled to Napier to train with him in her school holidays. He also assisted another top diver, Margaret Lay.

Buscke was named as the diving coach in the New Zealand Olympic team for Moscow in 1980. When the team was forced to withdraw because of the American-led boycott, he travelled to Europe, Bahrain and Japan with diver Ann Fargher as her coach, though his expertise was really only required in Bahrain and Japan because she had other coaching already available to her in Europe.

Later he coached Nicky Cooney, a springboard medallist in the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games.

He was involved in the catering industry for a number of years.

His sister, Shona, also coached diving and later married Hawke’s Bay swimmer John Palmer.