Diving continues to shine despite disadvantages

By Carl Bialik

Because the divers are in many ways a separate team, their coach is often the key to their success. A 13-year Yale coaching veteran, Jim Pyrch was an All-American diver at Southern Connecticut State University and has coached divers at the international level. Smith and fellow diver Jason Wyland, TC '98, stayed in New Haven last summer to work with Pyrch. Smith called Pyrch "one of the best coaches out there." The whole squad looks to Pyrch for technical guidance and training input, according to Wyland, who added that Pyrch is "good at motivating the team."

Julia Tiernan/YH Although the divers compete with the swimming team, they have separate practices and coaches

The divers are certainly motivated for the upcoming championship meets, as they hope to perform well individually and also to help the swimming team. "The philosophy is the same as for the swimmers--you try to help the team and to do well individually. So you try to have your best performance at the championships," Pyrch said. Wyland added, "We've all been getting pretty psyched."

Unlike swimmers, who are judged solely on time, divers are awarded points. Kathy Kunkle, TD '98, explained, "You have to get the dive done in the proper manner, and are judged for height, distance, and entry." All these things make "diving a very mental sport." Much of the divers' preparation is geared toward appearance. "If you make it look easy, you're going to score a lot better," Pyrch said. "You can do things well, but if you make it look robotic you won't score well." Consistency is also important for championship meets, which require 11 dives rather than the customary six performed at dual meets. "Most Yale divers have the consistency required to do well," Wyland said.

The women's preparation is currently aimed at the Ivy League Championships, which will be held at Harvard from Thurs., Feb. 26 through Sat., Feb. 28. Yale's women's diving squad is among the strongest in the league. All four women have performed consistently and have qualified for the NCAA Eastern Championships, to be held Thurs., Mar. 19 through Sat., Mar. 21. Having only four divers, however, weakens the team. Courtney Williams, JE '98, who was the team's top diver, quit in January. "It hurts the team. She was its best diver," Wyland said. Because the number of swimmers teams can bring to championships is limited, and three divers count as one swimmer, only three of Yale's divers will compete. Kunkle, the only senior among the women divers, said, "Princeton has six really strong divers. They're the biggest powerhouse." Nonetheless, Kunkle expects the team to do "very well at Ivies. Most of us will definitely get into the finals." She especially praised Shannon Dunlap, BR '01, for consistently performing "really, really well."

Ivy Championships for the men will be Thurs., Mar. 5 to Sat., Mar. 7 at Army. There are only three men divers, so all three will compete. Princeton, Brown, and Navy all have extremely strong diving squads, but Wyland puts Yale right behind that group. Smith expects to place in the top 12, and he thinks Wyland will place in the top eight. Wyland will go on to compete in the NCAA Eastern Zone Championships, which will be held Fri., Mar. 13 and Sat., Mar. 14.

These accomplishments are particularly impressive in light of what Smith calls "one of the worst facilities in the [Ivy] League." Smith attributes Yale's small number of divers to its poor facilities. At last week's H-Y-P meet at Princeton, he noted the superior facilities, including a diving tower, a functioning dry board, and a trampoline. Smith also mentioned that Princeton's diving boards are supported by concrete, while Yale's rest on steel supports that "shake back and forth. The first time people get on, they're scared to death." He feels this has hurt Yale's recruiting. "If I was [sic] a recruit, I would go to Princeton, at least in terms of facilities," he said. Kingsley Carson, TD '99, agreed that the poor facilities have hindered the team's performance. "Our dry board, which would allow us to practice jumps without being hurt by the water, is frequently broken. Also, we can't watch ourselves on video tape, so we have to rely on other people's descriptions of our jumps." Smith said that whenever the team has complained to Keefe about the poor facilities, he has replied, "It all comes down to the money."

Nonetheless, Smith said that these disadvantages "are not an excuse for [other teams] to be better divers than [we are]." Indeed, hard work and Pyrch's guidance have put the team in position to excel at the championship meets.

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