Swimmers step onto their diving board, muscles tense and ready to spring into motion. They launch themselves forward with great power, slicing through the water.
When crashing into the water, every flip counts as junior Cameron (Paige) McFadden fights competitors in the smoothest yet elegant dives with her opponents. The water churns as arms make way, bodies sail and legs propell with incredible force through the air and into the water. McFadden flies gracefully through the air.
Fresh off the water polo season with a 15-16 record, dive captain Cameron McFadden returned to the deck during the spring swim and dive season. Dive, like water polo, demands intense physical and mental training, and the athletes who excel in them are some of the most versatile and talented athletes in the world. However, unlike water polo, it is an individual driven sport — still with team camaraderie, but competitions are solely dependent on themselves.
“The camaraderie on the team is really great where we always cheer each other on, and since our team consists of 11 kids plus one Classical Academy diver, it’s really fun to see all the different personalities.” McFadden said.
Her teammates come to cheer her on against competition to help ease the mental hurdle of making a good show with a strategic and elegant dive.
She downplays being a captain.
“I’m going to be honest with the captain thing, it is mostly just the captains that contact our coach for more information about practice and tell the team. But this year, since we have such a large team, Luke Raggo and I are both captains.” McFadden said.
Junior Luke Raggo, her co-captain, is ready to perform with all the energy and mental strength he’s got.
Like McFadden, Raggo is extremely invested in diving for Poway.
“Dive is positive and a fun team that I enjoy hanging around. My favorite dive has to be my front double twist free,” Raggo said.
“Even though I am not their direct coach, I know they are great divers and good people,” swim Coach Michelle Ford said.
So far the dive team has won all of their competitions with senior Connor Wong consistently taking first place.
Other top divers are junior Carminho Coelho and sophomore Sierra Marshall at the top of the scoring board so far.
The divers’ season is going well with winning every meet and will continue to improve with their new coach, Morgan Thomson.