All American Girl
Feb. 3rd, 2008 11:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dedalus_1947I saw my first college diving meet the other day. This is not something I would normally do on a bright, sunny, and beautiful Saturday afternoon. Having experienced the monotonous hours of waiting between events at club swimming and diving meets when Tony and Prisa competed as children, I’d pretty much put the sport behind me. However, this meet was different. First, the timing was very convenient. The meet started at noon; which meant I could wake up at my leisure, have breakfast, read the paper, shower, dress, and be ready with plenty of time. Second, it promised to be short, because only two teams were competing at the UCLA Sunset Recreational Center, UCLA and Cal. The third reason was more personal, I would finally be able to watch a current college All American, and rising national athlete in action: my niece, Marisa.
I’d caught one of Marisa’s club meets at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center about 3 years ago. But it had been a very crowded and busy meet, with mobs of people, swimmers, and divers all over the place. I found it a very distracting atmosphere. That was just before she received her athletic scholarship to UCLA. I had not seen her dive since, but Kathy kept me well informed of her progress as a sensational college freshman, and then a consensus All-American last year. So I really wanted to see her dive again, and this seemed the perfect opportunity.
The day turned out even better than I expected, it was almost perfect. I assumed that Kathy and I would be joining Luis and Meg, and a small, intimate group of supporters (moms and dads of local athletes) to cheer on the Bruin diving team. Well, it turned out that a large contingent of family members (Lou’s and Meg’s) also decided to come and show their support: Lou’s nephew Jerry was there with his girlfriend, along with Meg’s brother and sisters, Greg, Tootie, and Teri, with her daughter Maggie. It was a family affair, and we animated the bleacher that contained smaller groups of Bruin boosters. The crowd was spirited, and Marisa was AWESOME. She was the class of the meet. She dove last, and she consistently scored the highest points, 6’s, 7’s, and 8’s, while the rest of the divers were receiving 4’s, 5’s, and 6’s. Her fans were going crazy after each of her dives. I could clearly see the quality gap, and the huge difference between her and the other girls. She was the All-American, and she was on her game today.
My second revelation occurred as I struggled to take pictures of her during the early dives. After standing at the base of the diving board, breathing and visualizing, Misa becomes a blur of determined action, with no thought, doubt, or hesitation. I had no clue what I was managing to photograph. Then it hit me, I CAN VIDEO THE ENTIRE DIVE! It was a major YouTube moment for me. So I spent the rest of the meet filling up my camera’s memory with videos of Misa’s dives. Some came out really well. I included one below.
UCLA won the meet, handily, with Misa taking first place in each diving category. To celebrate, and to continue the fun we were all having, Misa’s family boosters went to BJ’s in Westwood for lunch. It was a great win, a fabulous exhibition of diving, and a wonderful time.
I’d caught one of Marisa’s club meets at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center about 3 years ago. But it had been a very crowded and busy meet, with mobs of people, swimmers, and divers all over the place. I found it a very distracting atmosphere. That was just before she received her athletic scholarship to UCLA. I had not seen her dive since, but Kathy kept me well informed of her progress as a sensational college freshman, and then a consensus All-American last year. So I really wanted to see her dive again, and this seemed the perfect opportunity.
The day turned out even better than I expected, it was almost perfect. I assumed that Kathy and I would be joining Luis and Meg, and a small, intimate group of supporters (moms and dads of local athletes) to cheer on the Bruin diving team. Well, it turned out that a large contingent of family members (Lou’s and Meg’s) also decided to come and show their support: Lou’s nephew Jerry was there with his girlfriend, along with Meg’s brother and sisters, Greg, Tootie, and Teri, with her daughter Maggie. It was a family affair, and we animated the bleacher that contained smaller groups of Bruin boosters. The crowd was spirited, and Marisa was AWESOME. She was the class of the meet. She dove last, and she consistently scored the highest points, 6’s, 7’s, and 8’s, while the rest of the divers were receiving 4’s, 5’s, and 6’s. Her fans were going crazy after each of her dives. I could clearly see the quality gap, and the huge difference between her and the other girls. She was the All-American, and she was on her game today.
My second revelation occurred as I struggled to take pictures of her during the early dives. After standing at the base of the diving board, breathing and visualizing, Misa becomes a blur of determined action, with no thought, doubt, or hesitation. I had no clue what I was managing to photograph. Then it hit me, I CAN VIDEO THE ENTIRE DIVE! It was a major YouTube moment for me. So I spent the rest of the meet filling up my camera’s memory with videos of Misa’s dives. Some came out really well. I included one below.
UCLA won the meet, handily, with Misa taking first place in each diving category. To celebrate, and to continue the fun we were all having, Misa’s family boosters went to BJ’s in Westwood for lunch. It was a great win, a fabulous exhibition of diving, and a wonderful time.
