The girls made a strong stand during Saturday’s competition, taking the top four spots on the podium.  Sophomore Alexa Cacao defended her title and making it her second straight championship for Milpitas High School as she defeated Santa Clara Diving teammate and senior Monica Terry.  Monica held the lead by 13 points going into the finals, but was outshined by the difficulty of  Alexa’s final three dives.  The title came down to the final round as Monica completed her high school diving career by scoring 7’s on her last dive, but it wasn’t enough to overtake Alexa’s difficulty on her last dive.  Joining them on the top of the leader board was junior Mariah Renteria in third place and sophomore Gabby Ramil in fourth place.

Santa Clara Diving also had three other divers qualify for the finals including freshmen Shaifali Goyal and Qian Yi Pang making their high school debut at the championship meet along with returning senior Tripti Singhal.  Katie Silbermann made it to the semifinals before just narrowly missing out on the finals.  Emma Sadowski, Nichole Osugi, Patsy Hayes and Alexa Vitale each made their first  appearances in the meet along with Giulana Davis who made her second trip.

High School senior Collin Pollard led the Santa Clara Diving boys during the competition on Friday.  Collin had a solid performance and garnered yet another second place finish in the meet for the third year in a row.  Junior Nick Suits moved up from last years’ results making it to the finals and placing in eighth place.  Sophomore Alec Zawaki qualified for the meet for the first time and made it all the way to the finals finishing in 11^th place.

There are a couple of different types of approaches and hurdles that are used in diving at the elite level.  The standard and most widely used is the normal lunge hurdle.  This is the first type of hurdle that is taught in the lessons program at Santa Clara Diving.  This hurdle involves a simple 3-step walk (called the approach) towards the end of the board, followed by the lunge hurdle at the end of the board.  This type of approach and hurdle is most effective for new and young divers that are trying to learn the proper arm swing and timing in coordination with a dive.

The second type of approach is the hop and skip hurdle.  This hurdle is becoming more widely used and accepted in the diving community, especially amongst girls because of its effectiveness at generating more height from the diving board.  This hurdle does not involve a lunge, as most people would assume.  It replaces the lunge hurdle with a skip through hurdle.  The part of the approach at which the diver would begin the lunge is instead replaced by a small jump (skip) in which the diver pushes the board down using their momentum that is generated by the approach.  The jump allows the diver to push the board down a bit further with their body weight and momentum creating more spring from the board.  The drawback to this type of hurdle is that it can make the diver unbalanced and out of control on the hurdle, which are two very important factors in making a good dive.

No matter what hurdle your Santa Clara Diving coach decides to use, the diver should always be balanced and in control at the end of the board.  Just remember that a great dive doesn’t happen without a hurdle in the beginning.

Santa Clara Diving had a great showing from its up and coming boy divers.  Five different boys each won events during the meet in addition to several second and third place finishes.  Pranav Malavalli won the level 2 boys 1-meter event and also placed third in the 3-meter event.  Auggie Delacath won the level 1 boys 3-meter in his first SCD competition ever.  Mariano Paolini added to the win total by placing first in the level 2 boys 3-meter event, just ahead of teammate Macade Bailey who finished in second.  

Santa Clara Diving got a big push in the team standings from the girls who competed in the level 1 girls 3-meter event.  The SCD divers swept the competition in this event taking the top 5 spots on the podium.  Newcomer Rucha Patki led the charge by winning the competition edging out fellow SCD newcomer Laila Abdulkader.  Lindsey Kubo, Anjali Sudan and Alina Zasloff rounded out the sweep by taking the next 3 spots.

Our new Junior Olympic travel team members got their chance to showcase their new dives during the competition.  Robert Moriarty won his 3-meter event for the boys level 5 competition.  Nathan Duchez added yet another first place finish with his performance on 3-meter during the level 6 event.  Cyril Boboricken competed in his first-ever diving competition placing in second to Nathan.

Santa Clara Diving appears to have a bright future ahead of them as their lessons program continues to grow with even more divers and more talented divers.  Congratulations and a job well done to all SCD divers who competed.

The myth they were testing came from the television show, Burn Notice.  In one particular episode, two people are in a high-rise hotel building and jump into the swimming pool from an unusually tall height.  In the television show, they were able to successfully make the jump without crashing into the bottom of pool.  Is this just clever editing by the show’s producers or can this actually happen?

Santa Clara Diving provided the MythBusters with the use of the platform tower to test out their theory.  Jamie was jumping several times from each of the platform levels starting from the bottom and working his way up to the top.  His goal to defeat the myth was to enter the water feet first without going below the depth of 4 ½ feet.  The show used advanced technology to accurately gauge the depth of each jump through the underwater windows located at the pool.

Unfortunately, this was a closed set so no one was able to really watch what was going on from the inside.  We did, however, get the chance to see it from outside the pool.  It was quite interesting to see the guys in action up close.

We won’t know the results of the tested myth until the show airs on the Discovery Channel.  Santa Clara Diving is working on getting the details of when the show will air, and we will provide those details as we get them.

Remi Edvalson was the youngest member of the squad.  She competed in her first national competition of her diving career.  Remi finished the 3-meter springboard competition in 16^th place for the 11 and under girls’ event.  This was the highest place finish for Santa Clara diving.

Cole Vertin and Sunny Prasad were the only boys on the team competing in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard competition in the 12-13 boys’ events.  Both Sunny and Cole competed in their first national championship, adding to the young team.  Cole finished the competition in 27^th place on 3-meter and 28^th place on 1-meter.  Sunny just narrowly outshined his teammate by placing in 25^th place on 3-meter and 24^th place on 1-meter.

Katie Truong and Kathleen Navas, the veterans of the group, competed in the 12-13 girls’ events.  Kathleen, former Age-Group National Champion, competed in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events.  She finished in 22^nd place on 1-meter and made the top 20 with her 17^th place finish in the 3-meter event.  Katie’s only event was on the 1-meter springboard.  She also finished in the top 20 with her 19^th place finish for Santa Clara Diving.

All five divers show great promise for the future of Santa Clara Diving.  Three of the divers qualified and competed in the their national competition in just their very first year on the travel team.  A fourth diver was competing in a new and higher age group for the first time.  This summer is going to be very exciting for our entire travel team, especially our younger divers on their way.

1. Spring Regional Championships – There are 10 regions in the country.  The top 6 divers in each age group in each event will qualify for the spring national championships.  Platform is considered an exhibition event for the spring season.
2. West / East National Championships – The country is divided into two halves – east and west.  The west half of the country such as Santa Clara Diving will qualify for the West National Championships and the east half of the country will qualify for the East National Championships.  This is the only national competition for the spring season.
3. Summer Regional Championships – The top 15 place divers in each age group in each springboard event will qualify for the Zone Championships.  In addition to the placing, all divers scoring above the 15^th place average for each age group in each springboard event will also qualify for the Zone Championships for Santa Clara Diving.  Platform is considered an exhibition event for the regional championships.
4. Summer Zone Championships – There are five zones in the country.  The top 6 divers in each age group in each event (including platform) will qualify for the Junior National Championships.  The divers placing in 7^th place through 12^th place will qualify for the Age-Group National Championships. 
5. Age-Group National Championships – This is the last stop for those divers who placed in 7^th place through 12^th place at theZone Championships.  These divers will not have any more opportunities to qualify for the Junior National Championships.
6. Junior National Championships – This is the final competition to see who is the best in each age group in each event in the United States.  Depending on the year, divers competing in the Junior National Championships may have a chance to be selected to represent the United States in an international competition.

1. It is fun.  The divers still have to do their dives, but it breaks up the monotonous routine of just getting on the board and diving.  It adds an element of fun to a practice and brings the divers to a more cohesive group.
2. It forces the divers to do their dives.  Some divers will balk several times for a dive.  Doing a dive with another athlete forces both divers to do their dives, even if they are scared to do it.  The divers sort of forget about the scary dive and focus on trying to do it synchronized.  This slight shift in the mind allows them to perform a dive they once thought was scary.
3. They have to perform the dive with outside distractions.  Often times a diver get so used to being the only person diving that they cannot do a dive if someone else is going.  There are several things going on during a dive meet, and divers needs to learn how to focus on themselves and what they are doing.  Synchronized diving forces the divers to focus on what they are specifically doing and to not worry about anything else going on at that time.
4. Synchronized diving doesn’t just happen in the water.  Incorporating synchronized diving into a dryland workout is an effective tool for the coaches at Santa Clara Diving to watch multiple athletes at a single time and to easily spot mistakes.  It reinforces the exact movements and the memory that is needed when the athletes have to do a dive with someone else with the same movements.

Although synchronized is fun to watch, there is much more to it than just doing a dive with someone else.  Every movement has to be identical and match exactly with the partner.  The mental stamina it takes for this only improves the success of the divers at Santa Clara Diving.

One of the most notable aspects of platform diving is the height.  The diver will be able to overcome their fear on the 1-meter or 3-meter springboard events if they are able to overcome their fear on the 5-meter platform, or even higher to the 7.5-meter or 10-meter platforms.  Even something as simple as a jump or line-up will allow the diver to gain the confidence that is needed to dive on the 3-meter springboard.  This is a bit of a mental game that puts their mind as ease if they see that it isn’t as high as they think.

Another aspect to platform diving that really helps the springboard event is the fact that the platform doesn’t move.  Santa Clara Diving athletes are taught to simply use their own weight and muscle strength to jump from the platform.  There is no bounce or any force that will help push them in the air like the springboard would do.  The stable surface allows the divers to learn how to use their own strength and teach them how to jump from their own two legs.

It also teaches the divers balance and body control.  It is much easier to figure out how to balance and get into the correct body position without something moving.  Platform diving can be slowed down in order to hit the correct movements.  This cannot be done on a moving springboard.  Body control is also learned from the platform.  Staying tight in the air with their body can be learned as they have to fall from a much high height during a regular jump.  The divers learn how to squeeze their muscles to go in the water right.  The platform makes them think more about staying tight.

Santa Clara Diving teaches all aspects of diving including the platform event in addition to the springboard events.  Platform diving is taught at a safe age when the diver is mature enough to handle the impact of the added height.  Santa Clara Diving also teaches diving in a safe and fun atmosphere while utilizing all resources and aspects of diving for complete success.

Here at Santa Clara Diving, we utilize the spotting approach.  This includes hand spotting for basic movements and dives to rope spotting for multiple somersaults.  Spotting allows the diver to become more at ease and a peace of mind in knowing that the coach is there to help the complete the dive successfully.

Hand spotting on the diving board provides more of a real dive experience with the safety to ensure that the diver doesn’t get hurt. This allows the diver to be on the diving board and go into the water just like they would for the real dive.  The divers are slowly weaned off of the spotting until they can successfully and safely complete the dive on their own.

The spotting ropes are utilized once the diver begins to learn multiple somersaulting dives.  The spotting ropes are another tool that Santa Clara Diving uses to teach rotations and when the right time is to open out of a dive.  Divers begin to learn to use their eyes to visually see when they are flipping to know where the water is.   Santa Clara Diving is also fortunate enough to have spotting ropes over the water.  The diver can perform multiple somersaults in the water spotting ropes and dive into the water like the real dive would be.  This helps to eliminate the fear of smacking or kicking out at the wrong time.

Santa Clara Diving uses spotting to give the divers a safe way to experience, learn, and practice a dive.  We are fortunate enough to have several different types of equipment and ways to provide this real-life diving experience at all levels.

Santa Clara Diving had a strong showing from their youngest divers on the team in the 13 and under age groups.  Remi Edvalson and Cole Sullivan completed their first Junior Olympic regional competition by both qualifying for the national championships on the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events for the 11 and under age group.  Cole Sullivan won the only qualifying gold medal for SCD in the 3-meter boy’s competition.

Sunny Prasad and Cole Vertin also competed for the first time and qualified for the national meet.  Sunny placed fifth on both the 1-meter and 3-meter events while Cole Vertin placed fourth in the 3-meter event for the 12-13 boys’ event to qualify.

Kathleen Navas and Katie Truong will be making yet another trip the West National Championships with their performances.  Kathleen placed second in the 1-meter competition and third on 3-meter for the girls’ 12-13 events to make the national championships.  Katie will be making her second trip the meet by getting the last qualifying spot in the 1-meter event placing sixth.
The weekend had some other notable highlights for Santa Clara Diving.  Sabrina Chan and Shaifali Goyal each had improved performances from last year’s competition.  Lauren Hall and Alexa Cacao moved up to the 16-18 competitions this year, which is the toughest event.  They both made the finals on the 1-meter event along with Gabby Ramil and Tripti Singhal.  Qian Yi Pang and Will Schwarzer competed in the 14-15 age groups for the first time at the regional championships.  Lukas Andreasen joined Will in the boys’ 1-meter event with a comeback performance.

Katie Silbermann and Giuliana Davis made their debut appearance for SCD in the 16-18 age group.  Monika Terry and Tripti Singhal completed their final spring regional competition as they will be moving off to college in the fall.  Mariah Renteria and Gabby Ramil added two more divers to our 16-18 age group for a total of eight divers for that event.

Congratulations to all SCD divers!

SCD West National Team 2012
Remi Edvalson
Cole Sullivan
Sunny Prasad
Cole Vertin
Kathleen Navas
Katie Truong