As winter sports begin at WHS, students are given the opportunity to be a part of numerous athletic programs, including the Weston diving team. While many see the divers as just an offshoot of the swim team, in fact the two groups face quite different expectations and experiences.
“The divers work very hard. In many ways, diving is more challenging than swimming,” said former WHS swim coach Claude Valle.
The dive team and the swim teams have complex meet schedules, often occurring during the weekdays and weekends. During these meets, the dive and swim team compete as one, even though their events occur at different times.
“Generally, they run about a third of the swimming events, they stop the meet, run the diving, and then they run the remaining two thirds of the swimming events,” said Valle.
Each diver and swimmer hopes to perform well in their events, and when they do, they earn points for the team as a whole that determine the winner of meets. This point system is part of what makes the dive team such an important element of the WHS team as a whole.
“[The dive team] gives us points at swim meets,” said freshman Everly Kraska. “They’re cool. They’re unique. Love them.”
While the swimmers and divers work together to win meets, each team also has separate coaches and its own identity.
“We are our own individual team within the larger swim team since we also have some of our own competitions,” said junior Violet Moon.
While the meets can be intense, many on the dive team still see the team as a nice break after the long school day.
“The dive team is one of my favorite parts of school,” said junior Caroline Janis. “It has such a positive atmosphere and everyone is so supportive and kind.”
One of the reasons for the tight knit feeling of the dive team is its size.
“Since we are a much smaller group, this allows us to form some very tight bonds with each other,” said Moon.
Joining this group can seem intimidating given the athletic skills required to be a good diver, but members of the team believe anyone interested should give it a try.
“I didn’t think I would join the team but they needed divers, so I did, and I’m glad I did,” said junior Hayes Hanser.
To be ready for competitions the divers have to practice a wide range of skills.
“The dive team works a great deal on technique, specifically how to get as much height off the board as possible and then how to get their bodies in the right position to do the dive they are working on,” said head swim and dive coach James McLaughlin. “Once a dive is good, they will work on fine-tuning the details of the dive until it is really strong. Then they will move on to another dive.”
The team members balance all of this hard work with some fun elements during each practice.
“We line up on the diving board, and we dive into the pool after practice,” said freshmen Tanner Li. “We usually practice six times a week, including meets.”
At meets, divers compete using many different types of dive and techniques.
“You will see our divers compete in different categories of divesfront, back, inward, reverse and twisting dives,” said McLaughlin.
For the divers, this range of categories requires a lot of diving at each competition.
“When we compete we do six dives, and they each get scored on a ten point from three different judges,” said Moon.
What is hard for many non-divers to understand is how challenging dives that require flips, turns, and backward starts can be.
“I have tremendous respect for them, because I could never do what they do. It’s terrifying,” said Valle. “Even when I was a kid, I never would have tried it.”
Those brave enough to face this challenge throughout the season are sometimes rewarded with more than points for the team.
“Not only do [the divers] contribute a tremendous amount to our success; they also often go on to compete in college,” said McLaughlin.
For those who are curious about diving but unsure about joining, the team members have some advice.
“If you’re athletic and enjoy diving, you should definitely join the team,” said Hanser.
