Aberdeen’s Wolfenberger Overcomes Fear Factor to Win District Title in Diving

aberdeen diving
Aberdeen’s divers are (from left to right) are Katelyn Dawson, Katie Cournoyer and Naomi Wolfenberger.

 

By Gail Wood

oly orthoTo better appreciate Naomi Wolfenberger’s 2A district championship in diving and her return to state, you first have to consider how far she’s come.

Three years ago, she walked on the diving board for the first time.  It was her freshman year at Aberdeen High School and admittedly she didn’t have the look of a district champ.

“I could jump off the board,” Wolfenberger said with a laugh. “That was about it.”

On Wolfenberger’s final dive at Saturday’s district meet at The Evergreen State College, the senior did a forward double flip, helping her win the district title.

aberdeen diving
Naomi Wolfenberger gets ready to take a practice dive at the district meet.

“It’s not my favorite dive,” Wolfenberger said. “But it’s my best dive.”

From her first dive, Wolfenberger knew all about the risks, the chances of belly flops. The fear factor is something every diver has to fight through.

“It’s scary,” Wolfenberger said about diving. “But it’s just how much do you want to do the dive. How driven are you?”

From the start, Wolfenberger has had that special ingredient. She’s always been driven.

“The thing that got her to where she is today is that she persevered,” said Jan Simons, Aberdeen’s swim coach. “She was willing to tackle the difficult dives.”

At first, Wolfenberger wore a life jacket to help protect her from the inevitable belly flop as she learned a new dive.

“She went through a lot of pain and suffering to learn those dives,” Simons said. “And she was willing to do it.”

aberdeen diving
Aberdeen’s divers are (from left to right) are Katelyn Dawson, Katie Cournoyer and Naomi Wolfenberger.

This season, Wolfenberger broke two school records for the highest score for a dive. She won district with 369.75 points and was one of three Bobcats to compete at district. Two rookies, Katelyn Dawson, a freshman, and Katie Cournoyer, a sophomore, showed promise as well.  Cournoyer will be joining Wolfenberger at the state diving championship.

At her first practice this season, Cournoyer couldn’t even dive into the pool from the starter’s blocks. Still, she finished fourth at district, just one place out of advancing to state.

“That young lady has totally persevered,” said Simons, who was named the district coach of the year. “She’s got intense focus. She’s improved by leaps and bounds. It’s very cool for her to even be here at districts.”

After doing some gymnastics for a brief time last year, Cournoyer, prompted by some friends, decided to turn out for swimming this year. Then, impressed and encouraged by Wolfenberger, Cournoyer walked out onto the diving board, determined to dive.

“I could do flips in gymnastics and I had a lot of fun with that,” Cournoyer said. “I said why not diving?”

But she found out why not.

aberdeen diving
Katelyn Dawson walks down the board as she prepare for a practice dive.

“I got some bruises,” she said. “I’ve hit the board twice – one on my knee, one on my head.”

She hit her head on the board while attempting a backward flip. That difficult dive begins with the diver balancing on their toes at the edge of the board with their back to the water.

“I slipped and as I was coming down I went boom,” Cournoyer said with a laugh, rubbing her forehead. “I was okay. I didn’t get any blood in the pool.”

Aberdeen’s divers have received some helpful tips and advice this season from John Meyer, Timberline High School’s diving coach. The divers drove north to Lacey a few times during the season for coaching tips from Meyer.

“If it wasn’t for John Meyer, Naomi wouldn’t know her double and her inward one and a half,” Simons said. “Those are difficult dives. He gave of his time to help our divers.”

In addition to Meyer, Lee Bunnell also stepped forward to help the young divers.  “Lee is the reason Katie is headed to State.  He has the passion and technical expertise that elevated our program,” said Simons in relation to Bunnell’s 80 hours of donated coaching time.

Last year, Wolfenberger, who placed 13th at state as a junior, was having trouble completing a double forward flip. As a prompt, Simons offered a deal to Wolfenberger. If she could do the dive, Simons said she’d give the team a day off the next day.

“It was homecoming and they wanted it off,” Simons said with a smile. “I told the team that if Naomi throws her inward dive and her reverse they could get tomorrow’s practice off. She did it. Then we didn’t have any trouble from then on with that dive.”

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Aberdeen’s Katie Cournoyer spins in a practice dive at district.

Like her teammates, Dawson couldn’t do much at first while jumping off the diving board, other than make a big splash.

“I could do the cannon ball,” she said.

But she’s been a quick learner, despite the bumps and bruises.

“I am happy with what I’ve done,” said Dawson who placed sixth at district in diving. “I could have done a little bit better, but of course you’re going to mess up sometime.”

Dawson, who is just five feet tall, has some big aspirations.

“I’ve got three years to break Naomi’s record,” said Dawson, who placed third at district in the 100 butterfly to advance to state.

In addition to Wolfenberger winning diving at district, Aberdeen took six other firsts and won the district team title with 478 points. Tumwater returned the second highest score, but was 117 points behind Aberdeen. Aberdeen senior Taylor Jones took two firsts in individual events, winning the 100-yard butterfly (1:04.5) and the 100 breaststroke (1:14.4). Jones always swam a leg on two winning relays and the Bobcats won all four relays.

“This team has really good depth,” Simons said.

 

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