In conversations with five of the top district divers, certain personal stories and histories overlapped, and each young woman spoke of her excitement to be among the state’s most successful divers. They all spoke about the intense combination of fun and challenges that makes the long hours of practice more than worthwhile.
Wang will be diving next year for Indiana University, one of the top college programs in the country, which traditionally draws current and future Olympians. She can’t wait to be mentored and inspired by so many star divers as she transitions to the next level. “I did a whole list of sports when I was younger,” she said. “Skating, gymnastics, ballet and soccer. But then I quit them all to commit to diving. It’s just really fun.”
Carrboro High School’s Claire McDaniels comes from a swimming and diving family; her older sister Emily McDaniels excelled as a swimmer at CHS before continuing a successful career at Vassar College, and her mother Meg McDaniels was a diver for the University of Alabama. Although Claire began as a swimmer, she became enamored of diving as she watched her older brother practice. As she said in a 2017 News & Observer profile, “I like the thrill of throwing myself off a board more than the blocks.” Now she dives weekdays before school starts, again in the afternoon for three to six hours and almost non-stop on weekends - and then there’s time in the weight room. Last year as a freshman she took first place in the state 1A/2A championships, and then went on to compete in USA Nationals, along with Wang. McDaniels grins when she says, “That’s most of the reason I’m going to college. To dive.”
Many casual observers of the sport only watch divers compete during summer Olympics, after which there is always an uptick in children and young teens signing up to train. The Triangle is blessed with two strong programs, Duke Diving Club, where many of these high school women train, and North Carolina Diving at UNC, which also draws serious youth divers. All of the top divers in the district train year-round and compete on the USA Diving circuit, in addition to the regional and state meets with NCHSAA. Last year at the 2017 USA National Championships, Wang placed third in the 3-meter prelims as well as finishing strong in the finals; McDaniels also made it to the Nationals and finished 16th on platform overall.
Many young divers start out as gymnasts, and others first compete as swimmers. East Chapel Hill High sophomore Zooey Mehen trained as a gymnast for seven years before breaking her elbow and deciding to try out diving. She has been competing for less than two years, yet she placed fourth in the the 3A state meet last month. Mehen said she loves trying out new dives and she admits one of the reasons she enjoys diving so much is that “it just looks really cool.”
Indeed it does. All of the top divers maintain YouTube presences with brief clips of their performances in competitions. To the untrained eye, the dives of these CHCCS women look perfect - crisp, flawless lines with little splash as they hit the water. Every one of the 11 dives they execute in competition is the result of thousands of practice dives, and at each new step of development, there is often accompanying fear.
Clara Tate, a sophomore at Chapel Hill High, finished second behind Wang in last month’s 3A championships. She said that she always had a fear of heights, and the fear sometimes returns as she’s practicing her platform dives. As with most competitive divers, she’s suffered her share of injuries: a concussion, torn ligaments and a stress fracture in her back. When divers enter the water from the 10-meter platform, they are often moving at 40 mph, yet Tate notes that diving takes less physical toll on the body than competing in gymnastics at the same level. And as her fellow divers echoed over and over, “It’s just so much fun,” Tate said. “To be up there, flipping through the air.”
McDaniels said that her lifelong fearlessness is one of the most important ingredients to her success. “It’s more mental than physical - before you leave the board, it’s telling yourself it’s time to go.” Now, she said, her appetite for practice and competition is limitless. “I’m thinking, Let me try this, and this, and this.”
Cloris Huan of Chapel Hill High, yet another sophomore diver, competed last month and came away with a ninth place finish, even though she was battling an injury that took her out of practice for a number of weeks. "Diving is both a mentally and physically challenging sport that requires extreme bravery, persistence and precision,” she said. “Diving has taught me so many life lessons, like being a hard worker and being resilient, even when time are difficult.”
Meg McDaniels, Claire’s mother, stepped in to fill a coaching vacancy after winter break, and she worked with all of the CHCCS girls who competed in the regional and state championships. As an assistant coach with Duke Diving, McDaniels understands what it takes to succeed at the high school level. “They train so hard and rarely get the recognition they deserve. I guess they don't mind because they love what they're doing, and it's been such a great foundation for them for the rest of their lives.” She added proudly, “They are very self-motivated young women!”
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| 3A State Meet: Alyssa Wang (left), Clara Tate (2nd on left), Zoey Mehen, (4th on left) |
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| 1A State Meet: Claire McDaniels |
