Did you know that Palmer High School has a Dive team? Diving is a precision Olympic sport (since 1904) where athletes execute acrobatic maneuvers, including flips and twists, while plunging from a 3-meter springboard or 10-meter platform into water! The Dive team is small but they practice hard and encourage one another to improve. Dive is different from swim, though they practice at the same time, divers get to leave early. Meets are on Tuesdays and Thursdays at four PM, or you can talk to Ms. Eustace in room 300.
Diving is easy and more mental work rather than physical work like swimming is, “If you don’t get stuck in your head it’ll be easy” says first-year Diver Hope Harris. She describes diving as “Sometimes scary but fun” and enjoys the small community with only three other girls on the team stating, “We have more time to talk with each other so I feel we are closer in that way.” Diving is also proven to relieve stress, build strength, improve flexibility, and enhance your cardiovascular health all while being low impact on joints due to water buoyancy. Diving is among one of the healthiest sports due to the low impact on your joints, helping to prevent arthritis or sore joints and improve your posture.
Divers are scored 0-10, 10: Excellent 8 1⁄2-9 1⁄2: Very good 7-8: Good 5-6½: Satisfactory 2 1⁄2-4 1⁄2: Deficient ½-2: Very Deficient 0: Completely failed. As a first year diver, Hope averages a score between 4.5 and 6.5 due to her lack of experience but she improves every single day with the help of Coach Eustice, “If she knows that you can do something, then she’s gonna push you to do it” says Hope. Dive is recommended to people who are looking for a fun sport to play or just a safe space to meet new people.
