The Standard

Issue date: 12/1/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: David Fuentes

When looking at a group picture of the Missouri State swimming and diving program, one is bound to notice the individual abilities within the second largest team on campus.

This squad has MVC Champions, NCAA qualifiers and even swimmers with a shot at an Olympic gold.

But the one thing that usually isn't noticed is the diving squad, which makes up only 10 percent of the team's total population but is half of the programs identity. 

"Diving is the biggest secret in all of NCAA swimming," head coach Jack Steck said. "Our divers are extremely important to Missouri State's success."

The most important thing about the divers, though, is how they act more like a unit than individuals, in and out of the pool.

The six of them are from nearly every corner of North America from St. Louis to Aurora, Ill. (just west of Chicago) and from Anchorage, Alaska to Montreal, Canada.

The ladies feature a small group of seniors in Chelsea Ray, Heather Fulton and Sara Griffith as well as sophomore Liz Chollet, while the men only have a pair of divers in junior Eric Ducourneau and sophomore Corey Buzzard.

A lot of that bonding time comes from all the time the group puts in practicing, which runs up to three hours a day, and going as much as six days a week.

However, due to the lack of funding within the program and the fact that a diving coach makes more in high school than in college, the team only practices with a coach for about 40 percent of that time.

The rest of that time, the team is hitting the mats doing flips and stretches, as well as watching themselves on a TV monitor with a delayed playback.

The best part about them though is how they adapt to the sport, regardless of their conditions or background into the aerial assault.

With that background, some of them started as ex-gymnasts, who moved on to diving in high school or a subsequent summer league, others like Buzzard simply got into diving on a whim.

However, according to everyone on the team, he is usually the one who takes the most licks out in the water, earning him the nickname 'crash' for the graceful way he tends to enter the water.

Regardless of the way they started, these divers continue to achieve every step along the way, particularly Ray for the women and Ducourneau for the men, who both rank in the top five for diving in Missouri State history.

Continued...

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