All! City! Dive!

 Madison is such a wonderful little place in the summer. This town has a strong pool culture (which is probably a sign of its not-so-hidden foundational racism), and summers are a dream. We have the All City Swim and Dive League that puts on the country’s largest amateur swim meet (happening THIS WEEK! But Ben is the designated swim parent, because meets are really people-y, and I am always sure I am going to lose my kids) and also hosts a huge dive competition. All summer, the kids compete against one pool at a time at a series of dual meets, and then all the kids from all the pools compete head-to-head during All City week (this is the same for swim teams). The dive meet is spread out over 2 days, and the kids compete by sex and age group (under 10 boys/10 U girls, 11-12 boys/ 11-12 girls, 13-14 boy/13-14 girls, 15-18 boys/15-18 girls.

13-14 boys competed Monday morning this week, and 10U boys dove yesterday morning. Both boys had their best finishes yet, and our whole family had a great time watching and cheering.

Jack took 6th in a crowded field of really talented boys. Ben and I were biting our nails during prelims because the top 3 boys were clear, and the bottom 10 or so kids were clear, but there was a really tight middle with lots of kids throwing basically the same dives and doing a great job. Jack did an excellent job in prelims, and he KILLED IT in finals. His back dive was gorgeous, as was his 1.5 somersault pike, and he easily made the podium, topping last year’s 7th place finish and delighting himself.

Coop’s age group was HUGE, and like Jack’s the top 3 boys were clear. AND COOPER WAS ONE OF THEM. It was so fun to watch him nail his dives with mostly 6’s (a couple 5.5s and a few 7s thrown in). Even though he warmed up a FLAWLESS inward 1.5, the one he threw in finals was pretty good (4’s and 5’s), but his double scored mostly 2’s, 3’s and 4’s. Coop ended up a strong 3rd which was AWESOME and meant he got a MEDAL, which he has been wearing nonstop since yesterday afternoon. He separated himself from the rest of the field by having really high DD dives, and we cannot even wait to see what he throws next year.

What’s that? YOU WANT TO SEE PICTURES? Well, OF COURSE.

Jack’s cheering section

Coop still wearing his medal after he took a shower last night:

Coop wearing his medal on the way into dinner:

Coop GETTING his medal

Jack playing with Minnie on a very well-placed diving well adjacent park

Cheering for Jack:

Coop wearing his medal at dinner

Jack and his 13/14 teammate who took 3rd posing with their coaches

Coop’s podium crew

There was an ice cream truck AND a coffee truck— very good spectating

Twins!

Coop wearing his medal before bed

Day 2, cheering for Coop and watching the 9/10 girls’ final that had 3 of our pool’s divers in it

Another shot of 3rd place!!

Best finish yet! 6th place!!

Here’s a trip down All-City Dive memory lane:

2018

2019

2020 : Not really All-City, but a meet in covid times anyway.

2021