Dive Right In

by Matt Christopher

  It wasn’t all right, but Traci had to admit that Sophia was making sense. Traci was a beginner, and she’d have to stick it out with these little kids—at least for now.

  “Okay,” Traci said. “I know I’m new at this.”

  “That’s the right way to look at it,” Sophia said. “Let’s get going.”

  The class started out with ten minutes of stretching. This was standard routine for Traci: Keeping joints flexible was just as necessary for a gymnast as it was for a diver. The little girls were as supple as the gymnasts Traci had worked with.

  The group then went on to do a forty-minute calisthenic routine that left Traci breathing hard. Most of the younger girls, Traci was surprised to see, seemed to be in better shape than she was.

  Traci wasn’t sure whether this meant that divers generally needed to be stronger, or that Margo believed in working her people harder than Jeff had done. She suspected that Jeff had been more easygoing, and wondered if this was a point for Jeff—or against him. Traci remembered what Valerie had said about choosing between having fun and paying the price to get what you wanted.

  Traci couldn’t help noticing a few of the girls staring at her and whispering together. There was even a little giggling, although Sophia quickly put a stop to it and spoke sharply to the girls involved.

  Traci gritted her teeth. She could understand that the presence of an older, bigger girl in this group would appear weird to these kids. At their age, she might have been one of the gigglers herself. Still, it bothered her. She resolved to work as hard as she could so she could graduate to kids her own age.

  After the workout, some girls went to work in a pool, while others practiced tumbling on the mats. A few high-school-aged girls helped, spotting for the young girls.

  Sophia called Traci over to a corner of the exercise room. In her hand she had a tape measure.

  “Who are those older girls?” asked Traci.

  “They’re some of Margo’s divers. They sometimes help out with this class. I need to take a few measurements of you.”

  “For what?” Traci asked.

  “You’ll see in a minute,” Sophia said, kneeling next to Traci. She measured both of Traci’s legs from knee to floor, and then measured the length of her feet. She jotted down the measurements on a sheet of paper. She did some arithmetic with a calculator and wrote down the results on the paper.

  As she wrote, Sophia said, “Thanks to gymnastics, there are some things you won’t have to work on. Your posture is already excellent, for one thing. A lot of girls just starting out don’t know how to stand. You do. But you’re going to have to spend a lot of time on your approach and hurdle.”

  Traci’s face must have showed that she had no idea what Sophia meant. Sophia smiled and wrote more things on another piece of paper. When she was done, she showed the paper to Traci. On it was a line drawing of a long, oblong shape.

  “That’s a drawing of a diving board,” Sophia explained. “When you do a forward dive off a board, you start from a position toward the back of the board and take a few steps toward the end. That’s called the ‘approach.’ Then you take a kind of hop off one leg—that’s what we call the ‘hurdle.’ You come down on both feet, flex at the knees, and take off into the dive.”

  “How many steps?” asked Traci.

  “It depends,” said Sophia. “First, you’ll decide which is your ‘drive leg’—the one you jump off for the hurdle—and which is the ‘hurdle leg’—the one you swing upward in the hurdle. Then you’ll figure out whether you feel more comfortable making the first step of your approach with your left or right leg.

  “Let’s say you start your approach with your left leg and your drive leg is also your left leg. Then your approach will be four steps: left, right, left, right, drive with your left—and into the hurdle. Which leg will you feel more comfortable driving off for the hurdle?”

  After walking through some imitation approaches and hurdles, Traci decided that she felt better driving off her right leg and that she also liked starting her approach with her right leg.

  “Okay, then you’ll use a four-step approach,” said Sophia, marking some lines on the paper outline of the diving board. “These lines show you where your toes should be after each step of your approach. It’s based on the length of your leg and of your foot—the measurements I just took. And notice that the last step—the one that leads into the hurdle—should be longer than the first three steps, by about one third.”

  “Wow!” Traci said, looking at the paper. “It has to be that exact?” She looked at Sophia, wondering if this precision might be a joke.

  Sophia didn’t smile. “Yes, it has to be that exact.” She pointed to a painted outline on the floor. “That’s the outline of a diving board. I’m going to tape off the four steps of your approach here so you can start practicing. You’ll need to make an outline like this somewhere at home and tape off the steps on it, using these measurements. Then you can practice that approach over and over, until you can do it in your sleep.”

  Traci watched Sophia measure and tape lines on the floor. “I never realized that it had to be so precise.”

  Sophia looked up at Traci. “Believe me, it does. Margo may seem picky to you right now, but that’s one reason she’s such a good coach. She insists on perfection. Did you ever hear the expression ‘Practice makes perfect’?”

  “Sure,” Traci replied. “That’s what Margo thinks, huh?”

  Sophia shook her head. “Margo’s version is a little different. She says, ‘Perfect practice makes perfect.’ And she’s right. You can’t be casual in diving. What may seem like tiny mistakes can lead to really bad results. So find a space, draw the outline, and measure the lines for the steps. Exactly like it is here. If you can do it where you can watch yourself in a mirror, that would be even better.”

  “Okay, I’ll do it tonight,” Traci said. She was beginning to understand the difference between what she’d been doing with Jeff and the demands of a coach like Margo.

  “The other thing you need to work on,” Sophia said, “is learning how to jump.”

  “I already know how to jump,” Traci protested. “Watch.”

  She bent her knees and jumped.

  “See?”

  Sophia sighed. “That’s what I mean. That’s not how divers jump. You swung your arms up as your legs pushed you up.”

  “That’s wrong?” asked Traci, startled.

  Sophia explained, “Divers swing their arms up before they push off on their legs. Try doing it.”

  Traci tried, but it took her three attempts to get the synchronization. “Wow,” she said. “That feels totally wrong.”

  Sophia grinned. “That’s why you have to work on it. You need to get to the point where it feels totally right. You have a few old habits to unlearn, and that’s one of them.”

  “I guess I do,” Traci admitted. “Sounds like I have a long way to go.”

  Sophia nodded. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. But you can do it. Other people have made the same transition from gymnastics to diving. You have the skill. The question is whether or not you have the will.”

  Suddenly, Traci felt that she was on familiar ground. She was facing a challenge. She knew about challenges, and in the past she’d managed to meet them successfully. That was what competition was all about.

  She grinned back at Sophia. “I have that, too. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

  “I have a feeling you will,” Sophia agreed. “I think you should start drilling yourself on the approach, the hurdle, and the diver’s jump. Okay?”

  Traci took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said.

  6

  When Traci arrived for the next workout, Sophia asked, “Have you been working on the approach and hurdle?”

  “I spent hours on it,” Traci said. “I may not do it in my sleep yet, but pretty nearly.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Sophia said. “And I have good news for you. After warm-ups in the exercise
room, you’ll do some work in a pool.”

  “Really?” Traci beamed happily. “You mean I’ll be diving? Off a board?”

  Sophia held up a hand. “Not today. But you’ll need your swimsuit and chamois.”

  Traci tried to hide her disappointment. She didn’t want to admit that she was getting a little bored with the floor exercises. Instead, she hurried to change. A few of the younger girls greeted her. They were a little shy.

  “My name’s Traci,” she said. “Since we’re classmates, what are your names?”

  The girls introduced themselves: Claire, Juana, Tamiqua, Gina. Traci tried to remember the names. She wanted to get along with everyone, even Margo.

  The group went through their stretches and calisthenics. Out of the corner of her eye, Traci noticed one of the other girls (Gina? Claire?) staring at her. During the break between stretching and the more demanding exercises, the girl timidly approached Traci.

  “Uh, how old are you?” she asked.

  “Twelve,” Traci replied. “What about you? Is your name Gina?”

  The younger girl said, “I’m Claire, and I’m eight. Have you done diving before?”

  “No, I’ve never dived off a board,” Traci admitted. “I’m a little nervous about it.”

  “Oh, it’s really cool,” Claire exclaimed. “And I think it’s great, what you’re doing.”

  “What’s great about it?” asked Traci.

  “That you’re only now just starting in diving, even though you’re so old,” Claire replied, giving Traci a look of admiration.

  “Well, you’re never too old to learn new things,” Traci said, keeping a straight face.

  After the calisthenics, which Traci found a little less exhausting, the girls split into smaller groups. Sophia had Traci demonstrate her approach and hurdle moves.

  “Pretty good,” Sophia said. “But—”

  “But you must be able to do it without looking at the floor.” Traci recognized the sharper voice. It was Margo, who had come in without Traci noticing.

  “When you dive off a board, you cannot look at your feet. Practice with your head up.”

  “Okay,” Traci said. “I’ll work on that.”

  “Also,” said Margo, “you are doing your approach too slowly. The steps must be about this fast.” The coach clapped her hands four times. “If your approach is too slow, your dive will be ruined. Also, be careful not to walk too fast, either. Just about like this,” she said, clapping her hands again.

  Traci nodded, feeling more tense than she had since the last time she had done something with Margo looking on. She wished Sophia had stayed with them, but the assistant coach had left to help the other girls.

  “Do the approach again,” Margo said. “Without looking at your feet. Your brain will have a memory of the right length for the steps, without you watching. If not, you must practice more. But first, trust your memory.”

  Traci got on the “board,” closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and did the approach and hurdle again.

  “Your first three steps were two inches too long,” Margo said, “and your last step was too short. The tempo was better. But you must swing your arms more. You keep them at your sides too much. Once again.”

  Traci did it again.

  “The last step is still too short,” Margo said. “Remember, the last step takes you into the hurdle. It is very important. Your head was too stiff. You need flexibility in your spine.”

  Traci repeated the approach. Margo had more criticisms. After the tenth or eleventh time, Margo said, “Your last step was an inch too short. Have you practiced at home?”

  Traci finally lost it. “Yes, I must have done it a thousand times! I get confused, with you standing there and giving me all these tiny corrections! I’m new, and those meaningless criticisms make me more and more nervous.”

  “They are not ‘meaningless,’” Margo snapped. “They are important corrections, or I would not give them. Nothing in diving is meaningless or unimportant. If you want to be a successful diver, you must demand more of yourself. If you are not willing to demand more of yourself, you will achieve nothing.”

  Traci saw that the rest of the class had stopped what they were doing and were listening to what Margo was saying.

  “What’s more, it is good to be nervous,” Margo continued, her voice still sharp. “What is bad is to be too relaxed. I hope you will never stop being nervous. That is what will make you do your best.”

  Traci looked at Sophia. Sophia looked concerned, but Traci couldn’t tell whether Sophia felt that Margo was being too tough or just tough enough.

  “Sorry,” Traci mumbled. “I’m not used to this and I’ll keep working, I promise.”

  Margo gave one of her stiff nods. “If you do, you will make progress. Now let me see your approach once more.”

  Traci kept working on the approach and hurdle, and later demonstrated the diver’s jump. Margo was satisfied with the jump right away, and eventually had no further comments to make on the approach, either—except to urge Traci to keep working at home and not to make it either too slow or too fast.

  Finally Margo said, “It’s time for you to change and use the pool.”

  Traci changed into her swimsuit as fast as she could. Sophia was waiting for her next to a one-meter diving board. She had a small exercise mat, the kind that folded lengthwise, under her arm. Margo was nowhere in sight.

  “Is that mat for me?” Traci asked.

  Sophia nodded. “We’re going to get you started on backward dives today, and for that, you’ll be using this mat.”

  Traci was surprised. “Backward dives? I thought I’d be doing forward dives first. I mean, all that drilling on approaches and hurdles—that’s for forward dives, right?”

  “Right,” Sophia said. “When you do backward dives, you stand at the end of the board with your back to the pool. Obviously, you don’t do an approach for a backward dive, since you do it from a standing start.”

  “Okay,” said Traci. “But what’s the mat for? And why don’t I do forward dives, since I’ve been working on them all this time?”

  “Take it easy,” Sophia said. “Backward dives are as important as forward dives, and you need to learn the technique for them, too. We’ve found that the mat is a good introduction.”

  She swished the mat in the water. “That ought to do it,” she said. “Come on.”

  “Why did you get it wet?” Traci asked.

  “To make it slippery. Now take it easy, this is new to you.” Sophia had Traci walk out on the board. Sophia followed with the mat.

  Traci was startled at how far down the surface of the pool seemed. One meter was just over three feet and hadn’t looked like much of a height—until she was looking down from it. The board was much wider than a balance beam, so Traci wasn’t worried about falling. Still, the bottom of the pool was a lot farther away than the mats beneath the beam had been.

  Sophia handed Traci the mat. “Put it down so the end of the mat is even with the end of the board. Then lie down on it face up, head at the end.”

  Traci did as she was told. The wet mat felt chilly. Or maybe she was breaking out in goosebumps for some other reason?

  “Okay,” Sophia said. “Scoot back till your head is off the mat. Lift your feet a little, but don’t bend your legs. Point your toes toward me. Reach both arms over your head and clasp your hands together.”

  Once Traci was in the right position, Sophia said, “In a moment, I’m going to lift the end of the mat under your legs until you slide off into the water. As you do, don’t move your head or arch your body and keep your hands clasped. Ready?”

  “Uh-huh,” replied Traci, holding her position.

  Sophia raised the mat, and before Traci had time to feel nervous, she slid into the pool.

  As Traci came to the surface, Sophia called out, “You okay? How’d that feel?”

  “Fine. Did I do it right?”

  “That was a good start. Let’s
run through it again.”

  As Traci went back out on the board and lay down on the mat, Sophia said, “You arched your back that time. Try not do to that. Also, don’t move your head and keep those toes pointed. Got that?”

  “I think so,” said Traci. Sophia lifted the mat again, and Traci slid into the pool. This time, it seemed to her that she held her position better and there was less splash on her entry.

  Nevertheless, they repeated it several times, with Sophia making corrections, though more gently than Margo would have.

  Sophia then had Traci do the slide again, but this time with her arms held straight to the sides and her head lifted so she could watch her feet. As Sophia lifted the mat, Traci raised her arms overhead and moved her head back to the same position as in the previous slides.

  It took Traci several repetitions until she was able to get her head and arms into the right position before she hit the water, but she finally did it to Sophia’s satisfaction.

  “Now we’ll do the tuck position,” said Sophia. She had Traci lie back on the mat, bend her knees, and wrap her arms around her bent legs. At the same time, Traci lifted her head and tucked her chin against her chest. When Sophia lifted the mat and Traci began to slide, she moved out of the tuck, straightening her legs and neck into a line and clasping her hands together overhead.

  It took Traci much longer to coordinate getting her body into a straight line from the tuck before she hit the water. But eventually she was able to do it a few times in a row. Traci was relieved to be working with Sophia, whose guidance was more supportive than what she felt she’d gotten from Margo.

  “One last thing today,” said Sophia. “Let’s do a roll-off from a tuck position.”

  This time Sophia positioned the mat so that it hung over the board by two inches. Traci sat at the end of the mat with her back to the water, clasped her knees to her chest, and tucked her chin in. Then she rocked back and straightened out as she entered the pool.

  As Traci surfaced, she heard Margo’s cold voice. “Kick your legs up before you enter the water, so you enter in a straight line. Visualize your body going into the water straight up and down. Once again.”