Confessions of an old Diver

Back in the day.  With a full head of hair and a 6 pack!

I was a springboard diver for as long as I can remember.  Starting at 10 years old - I put swimming on the back burner - and learned how to use the fulcrum at West Nyack Swim Club outside of New York City.  Diving was a hell of a lot more fun than swimming - and was the cool alternate to lap swimming.

If you were ever in a competitive sport you already know the drill.  You start competing and over the years you move up the ladder in competition.  At some point you discover you have what it takes to become an elite athlete or that  you don't. I was blessed with good kinesthetic sense and quickly moved up the local rankings.

I ended up diving at St. Bonaventure University in the late 1970's.  It was a small Division One school that is now part of the Atlantic 10 conference.  I held school records there for many years and upon graduation put diving on the back burner as the real world and paying bills became a priority.

What brings me back to diving over the past year or so is my beautiful daughter Brighid.  She is 13 years old and will be starting her Freshman year of high school in a few weeks.  Like me - she took a liking to the diving boards during the summers.  Over the years she has competed on a high level in soccer and Irish Dance.  This fall she told me she would give up Soccer and Dance and move exclusively into diving if it was OK.  Was it OK?  I was ecstatic.......

This past winter we drove twice a week for lessons with the Montgomery Dive Club.  She loved it!  This summer she attended three weeks at Indiana Diving Academy with Indiana Coach Jeff Huber.  She improved a great deal and only became more excited about the prospect of increasing her skills and becoming an elite diver.

As I got more and more involved with her diving - I realized how much I missed it.  While there are lots of crazy ideas floating around in my head - this blog will give me an outlet to share my experience.  If you found me - you probably know me or have some connection to diving.  I hope you will enjoy my perspective of a grown up kid - getting his feet wet once again.