Divers make big splash

Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008

Divers make big splash

Whitman wins county’s diving relay

by Jennifer Beekman | Staff Writer

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Whitman freshman diver Emily Schmidt’s task Friday afternoon was plain and simple. All she needed to do was complete her third and final dive — a back summersault with a twist — to catapult the Vikings from second place into first at the county’s dive relay held at the Germantown Indoor Swim Center. The dive itself isn’t necessarily an easy one, though fairly routine for Schmidt. But still, it was a pressure-packed situation for a freshman.

Schmidt seemed unfazed by the occasion, however. She calmly walked up the steps to the diving board and without a hitch, hammered a solid six-point dive — dives are ranked on a scale of 1-10 — to help Whitman reign supreme at Friday’s meet.

The Vikings, whose victory followed up Whitman’s first-place finish at Jan. 12’s Division I swim relay carnival, tallied 387.35 points. Paint Branch (364.05) took second and Churchill (324.15), third. Magruder and Bethesda-Chevy Chase rounded out the top five.

‘‘[The dive relay] is nice because the divers often get overlooked and this was their moment to really get recognized,” Whitman coach Geoff Schaefer said. ‘‘That was really [Emily’s] first big high school meet. I’m not surprised, but I’m ecstatic the way she stepped up when she knew what was on the line. It’s great to have a freshman that’s not going to fold under pressure.”

All the county’s teams gathered for one big competition Friday. Each team was required to bring a minimum of four divers for the 11-round event — athletes could perform a maximum of three dives.

To ensure some balance among the teams, there were five rounds of dives with required elements. Teams could choose their own dives for the remaining six rounds and earn points based on difficulty and execution.

Friday’s dive relay was purely a fun competition. It has no bearing on division rankings But that didn’t detract from the meet’s intensity. Pride was on the line, and it provided for an intriguing battle.

‘‘It’s about fun and it’s about getting all the kids involved,” Magruder coach Amy Weiss said. ‘‘Sure a lot of teams could’ve just used their better divers. But the spirit is to get everyone in. In the regular-season dual meets, we’re just allowed to have two boys and two girls. This meet everyone was a part of it; everyone came together as a team.”

With more athletes involved, there was pressure on coaches to craft the most effective lineups. Each team was required to perform two forward dives, two backward, two twisters, two inwards, two reverse and one choice dive. Different divers excel in certain areas. It’s imperative to get athletes in positions where they can be most effective. But that challenge is part of the fun.

‘‘This isn’t something I did this week, I’ve been working on this since December,” Schaefer said about crafting a lineup. ‘‘It’s not just guessing where to put kids. It’s about finding the best combination.”

Whitman sealed its win Friday behind strong performances from Schmidt, sophomores Noah Levine and Todd Singer, junior Teal Hinga and senior Elliot Rosenbaum. Friday’s meet provided some of the smaller teams to prove their worth. Senior Joe Quattrocchi and junior Logan Shinholser, who finished second and seventh at last year’s Metropolitan Area Swimming and Diving Championships, helped Division IV Paint Branch clinch second.

Churchill was powered by national-caliber, brother-sister duo Michael and Alexandra Stanton, who finished third and fourth, respectively, at last year’s Metros. Junior Brittany Powell, who finished second at Metros in 2007, and Jeanne Ball led Magruder’s fourth-place contingent.

‘‘Our divers our very important, they bring us a lot extra points in each dual meet,” Schaefer said. ‘‘It feels nice, as a coach, to see them get the recognition they deserve.”