Tropic Lightning Diving

Team  History

The Beginning -- July, 2000

In July of 2000, Nancy Monden, parent of a youngster who was going to diving camps in Mission Viejo every year as her primary means of getting coaching, contacted Jeff Stabile to see if he would be willing to work with her daughter. He quickly agreed, and Nancy was able to secure entree at Schofield Army Barracks' Richardson Pool. After a few sessions of forward-takeoff-only, swim to the ladder workouts, the pool management noticed what was happening and asked Jeff if he would be interested in trying for a contract to provide the pool with a diving program. He happily applied.

In the meanwhile, Leilehua High School needed a coach, and was working out at the Richardson Pool. Jeff stepped in and was able to forge a program through interscholastic competition until the contract was approved. In January, 2001, when all the paperwork was completed, the Rainbow Diving Club was formed.

Sadly, in March of 2001, the pool closed for major renovations, and did not re-open until May. Nevertheless, we continued operations at another facility and started a lessons program once Richardson re-opened. Rainbow's first competition was the Aloha State Games, at which we represented with six divers. Immediately following the Games, coach Jeff Stabile traveled to Seattle to coach Pacific Northwest Diving while that team's regular coach was in Alaska doing some commercial salmon fishing. Thus, our operations were put on hold until the advent of the school year.  While doing coaching duties, he also competed in US Diving's Senior (elite) circuit, reaching the finals in the one meter at the Summer Zone D National Preliminary meet.

2001-2002

9/11 happened, shocking the world.  As we are based at a military facility, we were shut down while the Army figured out how best to respond to the attacks.  In October, the Rainbow Diving Club  once again began operations.  The numbers dropped as we had our first winter practices -- the unheated pool proved none too popular, and only four hardy souls stayed the course.  In Spring of 2002, we entered into the U.S. Diving "Road to Nationals" circuit, as team member Aleia Monden learned the skills required to have a chance at National-level success.  We again entered six divers in the Aloha State Games, winning medals on the Novice, Junior, and Senior levels.  Aleia helped us reach new heights as she qualified for the Junior Zone meet (one step below Nationals) on both boards .  That August, interest in the program grew and we entered the Fall with a record 13 divers, and,  learning that Schofield Barracks theme/mascot is "Tropic Lightning," we have begun the process of changing our team name to that most appropriate description of our divers' skills!

2002-2003

In 2003, Tropic Lightning started to have some serious successes.  Aleia Monden won her first Hawaii High School Athletic Association State Championships, coming from behind after the preliminaries to win by merely two points.  Fellow High School diver Michaelle Fujioka also reached the finals in her debut State meet. Taylor Orner attended his first Spring Region Championship and finished as the alternate to the Spring West Junior Championships in the one meter event.   Tropic Lightning again attended the Aloha State Games and, later that summer, Aleia became the alternate to the Junior Nationals on Platform.

2003-2004

After the 2003 season, Richardson Pool closed for eight months.  The team dropped off to only three members, and team members had to drive all the way to Kaiser High in Hawaii Kai for workout.  Despite these difficulties, Tropic Lightning enjoyed a solid season in 2004 and actually grew in size with the satellite program at Kaiser.  Aleia won her second state championship, breaking Sandra Serai's 21-year old record, while first-year diver Mike Doe earned the bronze medal (and then his dad was transferred to Virginia :(  but he's still diving there :)  Aleia  was given the chance to represent Hawaii at the Spring West Junior Championships by decree of the Hawaii High Performance Committee.  Finishing 14th on the 1M and 18th on the 3M in a field of 31, she performed very respectably.  sent 10 divers to  the Aloha State Games and won medals  in every event we entered. Aleia continued her foray into the elite levels of US Diving when she qualified for the Summer West Championships, a more elite level of competition that replaced the Junior Zone competition.

2004-2005

Fall of 2004 brought us a wonderful gift -- TD Thornton (nee Rowe).  A national standout diver from the state of Washington (competed in college for Nebraska and Minnesota), TD and her husband moved to Oahu in September.  She immediately aided the program as an assistant coach and also a model of the level of diving to which we all aspire.  The addition of a makeshift hot tub added greatly to the divers' ability to withstand the cold, so we actually kept ten divers through the winter!  The Kaiser satellite helped keep the Town/Southeastern kids involved as well.  Aleia broke her own record at the high school States, and outscored the boys for the first time.  Michaelle again made the finals to cap off her Senior year.  Taylor was alternate to the Spring Junior West Championships, this time on 3M, while Aleia had a breakthrough season, qualifying for the Junior Nationals on platform (finishing 16th in the prelims) and qualifying for the re-inaugurated AAU nationals, and became the first 16-18 girls' AAU Champion in 25 years when she defeated 59 other girls in the 1M event.  She also competed on the Senior level for the first time, debuting at 7th in the Zone D Senior National Preliminary 1M event.

2005-2006

The Fall of 2005 saw the beginnings of the next generation of Tropic Lightning Diving Team.  Several of the stalwarts of the first few seasons moved on (that's life on a military base!).  The next generation took up the challenge and performed very well in a continuing series of group practices/competition preparation events with the Sunshine Diving Club run out of UH.  Aleia entered the Senior elite level by qualifying for the US Open Championships on all three boards, reaching the semis on 3M and being considered for international trips.  She won the bronze on 1M at the Spring West Junior Nationals.  The beginning of the summer saw Ryan win a major event on her final dive -- a newly learned 403C for 6s that catapulted her to victory at the Aloha State Games over fierce competition.  Every Tropic Lightning Diver won a medal in the Games, Hawaii's major annual diving event.  Aleia moved on to the finals of the Junior Nationals in both the 1M and Platform event, and to the finals in the 10M event in her debut Senior Nationals.  And capping off the season, BJ and Norinston qualified for the finals in their events at the AAU Nationals.

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