MIT vs. Tufts
February 4, 2008 at 4:26 pm | Doria | meet |
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The annual MIT vs. Tufts dual meet was last weekend. Usually dual meets are just another practice for me. Nothing special or anything to really get worked up about, but Tufts is different. In order to appreciate the full magnitude of what it means to dive against Tufts, I must first explain to you my entire college career.
After joining the diving team, I made it my goal to be a national champion. I wanted to be an 8 time All-American (2 events per year, 1 meter and 3 meter, four years of diving). To be an All-American, one has to place top 8 at the NCAA national championships. Being an All-American wasn’t enough though, I wanted to be an 8 time national champion.
Going into my first championships at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, I really didn’t know what to expect. The pool was nothing fantastic, the hot tub didn’t work (a diving staple), and no one actually checked our passes when we tried to get on deck. I definitely didn’t feel like I was at a national championship, but then again, this is division III.
We got to the championships on a Tuesday evening, checked into the hotel, and settled down for the night. The next morning, we went in for my first workout. It was nothing spectacular, but I got used to the boards and got all the stiffness out from the airplane ride. After a big meal and a nap, we went back to the pool for another routine workout. It was supposed to be more of the same, just getting back into the groove of things at a foreign pool and with all new competitors, but it wasn’t. The diver from Amherst, who was the favorite for the meet, hit the board, hard. She hit the board hard enough to break both of her hands in multiple spots. I don’t remember the actual number, but I think she had about 7-8 broken bones between her two hands.
“Great,” I thought. “I’m not nervous enough about hitting the board, but now I got to actually witness it.”
Only 22 girls qualify for the championships and now that the Amherst girl was hurt, everyone wanted to know whether or not the alternate would be called in. What was Kate Shaw going to decide? What would any of us do? Dive anyway.
So, one meter preliminaries began. The favorite had really lost ground and the title was up for grabs. I dove the best that I could and when the preliminaries were over, I looked up at the rankings and realized that I was on top. How did that happen? To this day, I’m not exactly sure, but the competition was nowhere near over. We returned that evening and I was more nervous than I could ever imagine, but I just took it one dive at a time. At the end of my 6 dives in final, though, my name was not the one on top. Disappointed, I ended up third. As my dad told me afterwards, third is pretty good for a freshman. I guess he had a point. At least, I was still an All-American.
The next morning my coach had to fly out to coach some other divers at a division I meet. So, there I was, at nationals without a coach. Technically, the head swim coach was there with me to make sure I made it from the hotel to the pool, but as far as coaching went, I was the diver up for grabs on the deck. Thankfully, the Springfield coach took me on and coached me all the way through three meter.
Now, Kate Shaw was officially two days into her recovery at this point and was feeling much better after a lot of pain medications. She ended up last on one meter, but she wasn’t about to let her senior season be ruined by some broken hands. Back in the game, Kate Shaw changed her list the day of the competition and was ready to compete. Using the momentum I had gained from one meter the day before, I worked my way through a fantastic three meter competition and edged away from Kate at the very end of the meet.
The reason I tell you about Kate is that the only reason I won a national title my freshman year was because the person who should have won had two broken hands and still almost beat me. Regardless, though, I dove well and became a national champion, the NCAA diver of the year, MIT’s freshman athlete of the year and MIT’s female athlete of the year. A truly fantastic end to an amazing start to my diving career.
Now, where does Tufts come into all of this? My sophomore year, nationals didn’t go as well as I had hoped. After a huge knee buckle on one meter and an almost failed dive, I did everything I could to scavenge up a fourth place finish on one meter. Disappointed with my one meter performance, I was determined to come back and win the three meter board. That too, didn’t go as I had planned. Diving head to head with Kendall Swett from Lake Forest the entire meet, I over-twisted my last dive by 10 degrees and my scores dropped from 7’s to 4’s and Kendall took the title, stole the national record, and grabbed diver of the year. To rub it in a little bit more, MIT forgot about me. I got back to campus and it wasn’t, “Congratulations on getting second at Nationals,” it was, “What happened? Why did you lose?” I felt complete swept under the rug.
Getting through the rest of that school year was all about how I had lost the title. I was a four time All-American, but all that really mattered was that I had lost. Second is never good enough for an institution that prides itself at being the best, always.
Well, despite the loss, I still loved diving and I was still determined as ever to win again, but my determination was not enough for what I was about to face. Kendall Swett would be transferring to Tufts–the school that I practice with every day, share a coach with, am teammates with. Kendall was going to be my new training partner and teammate. Great! Not only did I lose, but now she was going to be around every day to remind me about it.
So last year began with Kendall and I, two National Champions, sharing everything. It’s weird though, from a rivalry so strong grew a friendship even stronger. The Boston Globe did an article on our relationship and I encourage you to read it if you want to know more about Kendall and me.
The big question last year was who would get the title. We each had one and no one knew what the outcome of the meet would be. Well, it didn’t go anywhere near as we had expected. A new rival jumped into the scene–Erica Deur, from Calvin College. Kendall didn’t even make it to finals on one meter and Erica ended up out-diving me in the finals to win the meet. I got my highest finish on one meter that year. When it came time for three meter though, it was all about Kendall and me. After an intense preliminaries, Kendall and I were an entire dive ahead of the competition and she once again out-dove me and re-set her national record. Discouraged, again, I was ready to fight for a title. I was an entire dive behind going into finals after a couple bad voluntary dives. I really didn’t have a shot, but I dove with heart. I put everything on the boards and decided regardless of the outcome, I was going to have fun. I did just that. I had so much fun that I won my second national title.
Although Erica was rewarded diver of the year, MIT remembered me and awarded me female athlete of the year, even President Hockfield sent me a congratulatory email. I felt like my school was once again proud to me call me their own.
My entire college career can be summed up so far as 6 All-American honors, 2 National titles, and 5 medaled finishes at the championship. Regardless, every time I compete with Kendall, it becomes a national championship. It becomes more and more intense. So competing in just a dual meet with her was and will never be just a dual meet. It’s another opportunity to enjoy the sport and really feel competition.
What happens this year? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Stay posted!
The News Office blog is currently featuring reports from MIT senior Doria Holbrook, above, who is chronicling her attempt to qualify for the U.S. Olympic diving trials in June.