On Oct. 23, the John Adams Diving season began, and it is looking to be one of the most exciting seasons yet, with new additions to the team and returning athletes looking to make it their best season yet. While diving is technically an event in a swim & dive meet, it is essentially its own unique sport, as it differs greatly from the other swim-based events, and it has its own techniques that need to be mastered in order to score points.
Despite diving possessing its own type of competition, divers are still important to the swim & dive team, as they score points that contribute to the final score and help determine the winner of a meet. Swim & dive is very much a team effort, and the John Adams Dive team is looking forward to helping bring Adams another City Championship this season.
When asked about how she feels about the coming season, team captain and fourth year diver Kailey Corban said, “I am excited and anxious to start competing. We have a great group of girls and guys and I am looking forward to seeing what we’ll do as a team. There’s work that needs to be put in in order to achieve our goals but I’m confident that we’ll get there.”
Corban placed first in last year’s City Meet, an achievement she is looking to replicate this year, before turning her sights to a top placement in the Sectional Finals which takes place on Feb. 3, 2024. There is also a Regional Finals in which the Top eight go to State, the final meet in the diving season.
The Girl’s Swim & Dive team has already secured their first win this season, beating Elkhart 107-77. Corban took first place in the dive portion of the meet, scoring 195.5 points, while Keira Kinney and Claire Brenner scored 148.2 and 134.85 respectively. This put eight points towards the final score of the meet, a valuable contribution as many meets are often decided by less than ten points.
While not every member of the dive team was able to participate in the first meet of the season, due to the requirement that a diver must have six completable dives in order to compete, the dive team is working hard to develop new divers and ensure they can compete in full by the end of season. In reference to the potential the team has this year, junior diver Claire Brenner, the winner of last years sportsmanship award, said, “I do think that there is a lot of potential for development- we have a lot of promising new team members, a strong work ethic, and a positive vibe going on the team so far. A good mindset and good teamwork will get us far, and we have both of those this year.”
While the Girl’s Dive Team has already completed their first meet of the season, the Boy’s Dive Team is currently preparing for their first meet, which will take place on Nov. 28 at Bremen High School. When asked about his goals this season, sophomore Tomas Velez, said “I hope to achieve enough dives in order to compete for sectionals.” Sectionals is an 11 dive meet, unlike the usual six in regular season, and Velez is looking to develop enough in order to be able to succeed in the Sectional meet, and perhaps even move on to Regionals. The Boy’s Dive Team is invaluable to the overall outcome of sectionals, as the points scored might be the difference between who gets to bring home the trophy and who goes home empty handed.
The dive team has faced a lot of challenges over the years, with coaching changes and uncertainty about practice location, but they have worked to overcome them in order to succeed at a sport they love. This season will be another defining chapter for the Adams diving team, and they are excited to begin the journey towards repeated success in the championship season. So come out and support the John Adams Dive team at all of their meets as they showcase their skills and prove that hard work does indeed pay off.
