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Sports

Whirlwind Divers Attend East Nationals Championship

The distinguished Whirlwind Dive Team recently sent 12 divers to the Junior East National Championships at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. The team returned home on April 14th with an overall fifth-place finish; a mere seven points away from second place. The meet included 271 divers representing 52 teams from 15 different states. The excitement of the intense competition was heightened for the participants by the frequent presence of Olympic gold-medalist, David Boudia.  

Piper Van Wagenen [Darien] - Whirlwind’s only 11 & Under diver at the meet - made the most of her time there, competing on 1-meter, 3-meter and Platform. Piper placed 16th on 1-meter, 17th on 3-meter and earned an impressive bronze medal in the Platform event. During this last event, she achieved a personal best on one of her 5-meter dives. Her final dive of the Platform event was an Inward 1 1/2 Somersault Tuck, also off 5-meter – the first time she had attempted this dive in a competition – and it resulted in the highest score for that round.  

The team, based out of the New Canaan YMCA, had four divers in the 12-13 Age Group: Anne Farley [New Canaan], Claire Ross [New Canaan], Owen Stevens [Darien] & Wiley Schmidt [Darien]. Anne dove in three events (1m, 3m and Platform), achieving finishes of 23rd, 21st and 9th, respectively. She achieved a personal best score with one dive on 3m. This was the first meet where she competed on Platform. Claire came in 26th on both 1m and 3m, and achieved a personal best score on one 3m dive. Owen and Wiley continued to dive neck-and-neck as they have for much of the season. The two teammates finished one place apart on both boards, placing 6th & 7th on 1m and 7th & 8th on 3m (respectively). Owen also dove in the Platform event and placed 5th. Owen achieved personal best scores on dives twice on 1m. Wiley achieved a new personal best score for a dive on each board.  

Whirlwind’s 14-15 Age Group included three divers: Rachel Burston [Stamford], Genevieve Angerame [Orange], and Timothy Luz [Darien]. Rachel placed 4th on the 1-meter board, scoring the highest point total in a round twice during that event. She also placed 9th on three-meter, with two new personal best scores. Genevieve placed 9th on 1m and 8th on 3m, with a personal best score on one dive on each board. Genevieve also dove in the Platform event for the first time, with an impressive 4th-place finish. Timothy placed 13th on 1m, 24th on 3m and 9th on Platform. He achieved a personal best overall point total on 1m as well as on Platform.  

The team’s 16-18 Age Group included four divers; two high school juniors (Sean Burston [Stamford] & Jake Bowtell [Darien]) and two sophomores (Kylie Towbin [New Canaan] & Kirsten Parkinson [Stamford]). Sean placed 8th on 1m and 6th on 3m, achieving the highest score in one round in each event. Jake achieved a 15th place finish on 3m, only 5 points away from 12th place. On the one-meter board, Kirsten placed 23rd and Kylie placed 26th. On three-meter, Kylie placed 7th with a personal high score on one dive and the highest score in the final round, while Kirsten placed 16th and scored a personal best on two dives. Kylie also dove in the Platform event, placing 4th and achieving personal best scores on three dives.  

The team travels to Fort Lauderdale later this week for the YMCA National Championships.

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