Update -- June 1, 2008

Dear Divers, Parents, and Supporters,  

Congrats on an OUTSTANDING HDA Championships!  Your performances far exceeded my expectations, and I am pleased to see that you are all diving better during competitions than practices.  This is a rare thing to see happen at the early stages of most people's diving careers, so good for you!

Oh, and to build redundancy into the system, I am correcting an error I made in the last update letter about Tuesday's practice -- it will be at Schofield and it will be dryland.  I had the graduation ceremony date for my school mixed up in my head.

Ok, on to highlights for this weekend's meet :)

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE HDA CHAMPIONSHIPS

General:  we had great participation, with 10 athletes competing.  And all 10 individuals won gold, taking home 16 titles in all.  But more impressive than that was the number of great efforts and improvements in dives that we saw:

Tate focused very well and did most of her jumps for scores of 5 and better, highlighted by her 200A 1M and 200C 3M for 5.5s and earning the Future Champions Level 2 1M title.  Emily got better as the day progressed. She hit her 401C 1M for 5.5s, performed all her jumps on 3M for 5s and better and competed her 002D for the first time ever (and for 5s) to win the FC Level 1 3M crown, and won her debut platform event, where she nailed both her 100B and her 200A for 6s and 6.5s.  Joanna did a remarkable job, having been medically cleared to go headfirst again only one week ago:  she won the 12-13 Girls' Junior 3M event, largely due to her final dive, a 204C for 5s and 6s, and nailed three 1M dives for 6s as well -- her 401B, her 301C, and her 5122D.  Linnet won the Future Champions Level 8 on 3M, showing that she is just about ready to break through to the Junior level on the highboard.  She showed what she is capable of on her 403C for 7s.  She also nailed her 403C 1M for 5s and 5.5s, while really wowing the crowd with her 5221D for 6s during the 14-15 Girls' Junior event.  Ashley won two crowns in the 14-15 Girls' Junior events, earning PBs on both boards and receiving scores of 5-6 on every dive except her 203C 1M, which earned personal best scores of 4.5-5s and which I thought was the best one she's competed yet.  BJ made a triumphant return to the scene, winning two 14-15 Boys' events and earning PBs on both boards and really hitting some dives beautifully (5122D 1M for 6-7s, 105C 1M for 6-6.5s, his newly learned 5231D 3M for 5-6s).  Amanda earned the FC Level 4 3M crown with an incredible 001D for 7-7.5s and a solid newly-learned 201C for 5s, while debuting at the 16-18 Junior level on 1M, where she nailed her 201C for 6s, successfully completed her 5221D (which she was very nervous on), did her best-ever 402C for 5s, and controlled her 202A nicely for 5.5s).  Alena was solid as a rock on 3M, where she won the FC Level 3 title.  She nailed her 200B for 7s, while hitting all her headfirst dives for 5-5.5s.  On 1M, she made her 16-18 Junior debut and won the 16-18 crown, competing her hard-won 301C for the first time ever and nailing her last three dives for 5.5-6s.  Kai participated in his first local USA Diving event with a 10 dive 1M total that surpassed his High School State Championships 11-dive score, despite a sheet error that turned a "7" dive into a "2" dive.  He really shined on his 103B for 6.5s and his 401B for 7s.  He also earned 6s on several optionals, including his 104C, 403C, and 302C.  Coach Jeff started to get back into shape for this meet, and performed particularly well on the 1M.  On 3M, he prepped his 305C but only actually did the dive the day before the meet, and it was the black mark on an otherwise solid 3M list.  On platform, he re-learned his 303C 5M during the warm-up, and earned 5s on it in the meet.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Next on the agenda, competition-wise, is the Region 10 Championships in Santa Clara, CA, June 20-22.  Kai and Ashley are attending this event, with plans to place in the top 15 and move on to the Zone Championships in Los Angeles July 10-13.

The Saturday after the Regional Championships sees the Aloha State Games at UH ( Noon start time on Saturday, June 28th).  I have information and entry forms, and will give them out next week at practice.

Sports Basics plans to host the Keo Nakama on Sunday, June 29th as well.  I have not gotten any meet information about this one, but will give you more information about this meet as it comes to me.

UH is interested in perhaps doing a one-week joint diving camp, and I will keep you posted about the details as they come about.

TENTATIVE JUNE WORKOUT AND COMPETITION SCHEDULE

Monday, May 26, 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM at Kaiser High School (Coach Jeff running a Safety Certification Class at 8:15 AM)

Monday, June 2, 3:30-5:30 PM at Kaiser High School

Tuesday, June 3, 4-6 PM at Kaiser High School (Graduation is actually on Wednesday, and tramp/spotting time will be good for us!)

Wednesday, June 4, 3:30-5:30 PM at Kaiser High School

Thursday, June 5, 3:30 - 6:00 PM at Schofield 

Friday, June 6, 3:30-5:30 PM at Kaiser High School

Saturday, June 7, 3:30 - 6:00 PM at Schofield 

Sunday, June 8, 3:30 - 6:00 PM at Schofield 

Monday, June 9, 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Schofield, Kaiser TBD

Tuesday, June 10, 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Schofield, Kaiser TBD

Wednesday, June 11, 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Schofield, Kaiser TBD

Thursday, June 12, 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Schofield, Kaiser TBD

Friday, June 13, 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Schofield, Kaiser TBD

Saturday, June 14, 4:00-6:00 PM at Schofield

Saturday, June 15, 4:00-6:00 PM at Schofield

Monday, June 16, 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Schofield, Kaiser 3:30 PM

Tuesday, June 17, 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Schofield, Kaiser 3:30 PM

Wednesday, June 18, 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Schofield

NO WORKOUTS THURSDAY, June 19th - Monday, June 23 -- Coach Jeff, Ashley, and Kai at Region 10 Championships in Santa Clara, CA

Tuesday, June 24, 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Schofield, 

Wednesday, June 25, 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Schofield, Kaiser 3:30 PM

Thursday, June 26, 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Schofield, 

Friday, June 27, 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Schofield, Kaiser 3:30 PM

Saturday, June 28th -- Aloha State Games @ UH, Noon until ??

Sunday, June 29th -- tentatively scheduled Keo Nakama Invite, CORP

Monday, June 30, 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Schofield, Kaiser 3:30 PM

ASL CORNER

As always, this reference is here so you all can learn to communicate with our deaf diver/s: check out the ASL Corner,  do the lessons as you want to, ask me for help as you need.

Okies, That's all for now! 

Jeff