Lee Swanson was a natural choice for coach of the WW-P diving squad. She is a former member of the South diving team, a current member of the TCNJ Diving team, and a qualifier for the national Division III championships, to be held in Texas begining Thursday, March 8. ##M:[more]##Perhaps most important of all, she has a good rapport with the team’s best diver.
It’s her sister. Mallory Swanson, a junior at South, has finished first in every dual meet this year. She placed third in the county-wide championships, leading the South team to a first place finish.
Just behind her were senior Kate Samardick and freshman Danielle Erikson, both gymnasts-cum divers.
Swanson finished 17th, with a combined score of 190.1 on eight dives. Erickson also made the semifinal round, scoring 152 total on eight dives for a 20th-place finish. Samardick finished 26th, scoring 79.5 on five first-round dives.
Lee coaches both North and South amd treats the divers as one team. The schools compete together, but are scored separately. Technically, each of the tri-meets is a dual meet. Only two of the divers represent North: Alaina Wezel and Melanie Weiskopf.
High school diving meets consist of each diver performing six dives from a board one meter above the pool. The dives are scored on a scale of one to ten. The score for a dive is the average of the score given by three judges. Swanson says the highest any diver gets at the high school level is 7 or 7.5. Most are closer to 4 or 4.5.
Swanson’s scores have impressed competitors throughout the county, and perhaps more importantly, have impressed her sister, too. “She does very well,” says Lee. “Her best dive is a front double somersault. She gets very high off the board, and it’s a beautiful dive to watch.”
Lee is as impressed by her other state qualifiers. “This is Kate’s first year diving. She’s basically started from scratch. She’s a gymnast, so things come naturally for her, and she has learned a tremendous amount through the year,” said the coach. “Her best dive is a forward somersault with a twist. She nails it every time.”
Another first year diver, Erickson, has improved throughout the year, but will be back next year as well. “She has learned so much in a short amount of time. She does a great back twister. It’s a forward somersault with one and one half twists. It’s a very difficult dive.”
