Heymans commits through 2012 Olympics

AP FILE PHOTO

Taking it down a level for 2012.

Emilie Heymans announced today that she’s committing to compete through the 2012 London Olympics, but it won’t be in her speciality, the women’s 10-metre platform.

Heymans won silver in a brilliant duel on 10-metre with her China’s Chen Roulin at the Beijing Games, her third straight Olympics in which she’d won a medal on the tower, the first two coming in the synchro event with Anne Montminy (2000) and Blythe Hartley (2004).

But Heymans and her coach Yihua Li believe the 10-metre will exact too much of a pounding on the 26-year-old Montrealer’s body over the next four years and will have her instead concentrate on the 3-metre springboard, where she’s also enjoyed success, but not to the same degree.

“It’s an enormous challenge,” Heymans said in a statement. “But Yihua Li and I are confident I can be a medal contender in London.”

Heymans added she won’t put too much pressure on herself early in the Olympic cycle.

“I have no objectives with regards to results for the next two years,” she said. “My main focus is technical work and increasing the difficulty of my dives. I want to start with a solid technical base and build a competitive diving list that puts me on par with the best in the world.”