UC High’s divers are springing into the season with a Dive Team that has jumped to triple its size since its inception last year.

   The Dive Team started with just one diver, Senior Natalie Harding. “It was just me last year and then, eventually, we had another guy join towards the end of the season,” said Harding, who is now Captain. This year, three girls and two boys joined the team. “A few of us have [diving] experience, and the other ones all have gymnastics, cheer or some kind of experience where you flip around,” she said.

   Armed with somersaulting skills, the divers have plunged into their official training this spring. The UC High team practices with other high schools, including Cathedral Catholic High (CCH), at CCH’s pool and under its coach. Practices last from 3:30-5:30 on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Training consists of dryland for building muscle memory as well as actual practice on the diving boards, according to Harding.

   “I’m working on my front double. I competed in it last year at CIFs, and I want to get it solid this year. Other people on our team are working on front doubles also,” said Harding. Senior Sean Quezada said that he hopes to accomplish a triple flip. Harding added, “The guys are already doing back doubles, which are pretty cool to watch, and they’re going to start working on reverse twisters, which are kind of hard, but they’re up for the challenge.”

   Diving skills are scored on a scale from one to ten. At a meet, typically three judges score each dive. “You get on the board and do your dive, and then the judges all score you at the same time,” said Harding. “The final score is all of those scores multiplied by the degree of difficulty,” she said.

   Harding said, “Last year, both the other guy and I went to CIFs, and so we’re hoping that we get at least four people to CIFs this year.”

   “We compete with Swim Team, but other schools [in our league] don’t have Dive Teams, so for competitions, we’re honestly just competing against ourselves, which is pretty fun,” said Harding.

   The Dive Team encounters competition at non-league meets. “We have a couple invitationals, and we compete against other schools like Valhalla [High], La Jolla [High] and Coronado [High]. And then, at city conference and CIFs, we compete against the entire division and other schools,” said Harding, “so that’s when you really start to have competition.”

   Even with inter-school competition, the relatively small population of divers creates a family-like atmosphere rather than one of rivalry, according to Harding.

   Sophomore Carly Hunt, who started diving this year, said, “I like that I’m getting to learn a lot of new stuff.” She added, “Some of them [other divers] are really incredible, and it’s cool to see that and know that I might get there.”

   Yet, learning the head-turning feats of diving can involve a leap of faith. “It’s terrifying,” said Hunt. “I’m still so scared, because it feels so high up, and some of the stuff we have to do is like jumping backwards and flipping forwards, or jumping forwards and flipping backwards, and I’m always afraid that I’m going to hit the board or face plant — we see a lot of that in practice. Some of the really good ones who are trying to do harder skills will just flop, and it’s really scary to watch.”