It’s hard to work on your dive when there’s no one to help with it. Unfortunately, junior John Nurme and the rest of his team have had to learn this the hard way.
Since the start of the boys swim team’s season back in November, there have been difficulties in filling both the general swim coach’s position and the diving coach’s position. Late last month, Framingham High School teacher Jared Killgoar filled the former position. The athletics department, however, had a harder time finding an appropriate contender to fill the latter role.
Now, the diving coach position has finally been filled by Kenai Hattori, the former coach of the girls swim team in 2006. This transitional period has been tough for divers like Nurme.
“We kind of hit a road block because we could practice stuff, but we didn’t want to end up practicing something the wrong way without a coach or doing something incorrectly when we didn’t know it,” said Nurme.
In late November, the athletics department appeared to have found a potential replacement diving coach. However, during the week of Thanksgiving, things fell apart: transportation issues prevented the replacement from being able to make the commitment, and the team was suddenly left without a coach just before the season began.
“Everyone was trying to scramble to find someone,” said Kim Draggoo, the assistant coach for both the girls and boys swim teams.
Finally, Draggoo managed to speak with Hattori after learning of his prior experience.
“I decided to take the job because I thought that, with my knowledge, I can provide some guidance and help the entire swim and dive team,” said Hattori, who also works at the Evelyn Kirrane Aquatics Center. “I think that every little help makes a huge difference in any activity. I love the high school competition atmosphere.”
Hattori, a BHS alumnus himself, competed as a swimmer for the boys team when he was a student. His diving background also stems from a training program he did while he was a coach of the girls team, when diving coaches were few, and far between. Now, he said, he is happy to be returning to the swim and dive team as a whole, which he happily noted has greatly expanded from the 25 or so members of his day to approximately 60 members.
In the meantime, the divers on the team had worked hard hard throughout December in order to keep up on their workouts and maintain their technique without a coach.
“Initially, they wouldn’t let us do anything except basic front dives and jumps because it was against policy, but then the swim coach got himself registered as a diving coach, technically, just to let us do flips, which was nice of him,” said Nurme. “So we at least were able to practice. But it was a little tough, because we had no information going into meets of required dives or who we were against, so that was a disadvantage over last year.”
Still, Draggoo said, “The divers, even without coaches, were doing very well.”
Hattori agreed, adding that he thought the divers “did really well staying focused, organized and ready for competition.”
“When there are no coaches, it’s hard to learn new dives due to the lack of knowledge and the concern for safety, yet all the divers pushed each other to such an extent that they’ve been a huge support for the team, even before I got there,” said Hattori.
Since his arrival in January, the team has benefited from his instruction and influence on their performance.
“My experience with the athletes has been phenomenal,” Hattori said. “When I first met them, I explained my background with swimming and diving, and regardless of the fact that I never competed as a diver, all the boys showed respect and were very welcoming. They are all very sincere students, and we have been coming closer together as a group with every practice and meet.”
“The top priority for the rest of the diving season is to remain focused,” Hattori added. “We already have one athlete qualified for both sectional and state meets, and there are three other athletes who have a very high chance of also qualifying for sectionals. And regardless of the qualification, I think that all the divers and I can agree that our goal is to score our personal best every meet and keep supporting the entire team.”
“He makes the practices more structured, with more structured workouts, which make us stronger,” said Nurme, who has qualified for states. “And he can analyze our dives and find out what we’re doing incorrectly. Pretty much everyone has improved a lot.”
The team is optimistic about the remainder of its season as it continues to improve, just like it did without a coach. Hopefully, its progress will be even more efficient with one.
Clara Dorfman can be contacted at [email protected].
