Prior to the last Olympics there was a big push to better our finish internationally. US Diving pushed the LRP and set up committees for competitive development. Nothing they have done has improved our situation. To this observer it appears that we are going downhill steadily. In the recent World Championships in Japan, our divers made it to the finals but none were medallists.

When will the organization realize that diving in this country is a true amateur sport? From high school to the college level there are limitations on the amount of time divers can practice. Our kids are at these institutions to get an education. Sports are extracurricular activities. When divers loose their eligibility or graduate, they look for a job in the area their education has trained them. They have to support themselves because our government doesn’t and US Diving can’t.

Since we have discovered what other countries do that we can not copy with the same results, maybe it would be best to look at what we do well and try to capitalize on that. We need to get back to what was successful for us for so long and stop trying to copy someone else. US Diving has proven that they can’t copy successfully and for that matter, lead successfully. Changing meet formats and adding training sites will not change the loss of coaches, programs, diving boards and divers in this country. The whole system that US Diving has set up is too complicated and cumbersome for the Junior and entry level people. The results of trying to be an elitist group are now being realized but still go unrecognized by the leaders of US Diving.

A recent article appeared in a Miami newspaper. That article can be seen on the USA Diving. Com web site. Two points gained my interest even though there were many more. Our technical director said that our poor performances since the Louganis era are the fault of US Diving. This is a direction reverse because he once blamed all of the coaches. He mentioned that the leaders of US Diving need to put a rudder on this ship. Being as old as I am, I remember when the organization felt that it was going nowhere because committee work seemed to bog the system down. At that time it was decided that we would put one person in charge, who would lead us to success. That person was our current technical director. He was our rudder. He installed the age group requirements and still wants skills attached to what those kids do. After almost 12 years, he doesn’t like the results he sees. He also wanted our elite divers to train together and helped craft the training center idea. Along with that all the additional certifications were mandated from the Education Director. That’s why we lost a lot of coaches. Our technical director had input to that committee. I may be the only person who has the nerve to point out the fact that he led us here and now he appears to be deflecting the blame to someone else. He led us in the wrong direction and we are still paying him a retirement salary for that.

The second point that peaked my interest was that our Executive Director declined to be interviewed for that article. I wonder why? I do not wish to speculate at this time but the finger pointing mentioned in the article has started again. The technical director has pointed the finger at the leaders of US Diving. It is interesting to note that he is one of those leaders. Passing the buck has begun. I just wonder who it gets passed to next? I think I’ll call it the musical buck.

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