Delta College’s men’s and women’s swim and dive team hosted the NorCal Dive championships on April 15.
Delta College’s Cammi Baumann and Jose Espinosa both placed in the top eight in the overall competition qualifying for the state championships.
After the event, Diving Coach Robert Wimberly, said he was elated with the progress his team has made over the last few weeks.
“Absolutely there have been improvements in the last two week, a lot of improvements so overall I would label it as successful,” said Wimberly.
Jose Espinosa qualified for the state championship for both the one-meter dive and the three-meter dive. Espinosa said he was definitely nervous during his dive.
“Yes, especially in the three-meter just because it’s a little bit higher you do feel a little bit intense, I don’t know once you get up there you got to forget about that and go for the dive,” said Espinosa.
Baumann, who qualified for state in the one-meter dive, said she felt a bit unprepared due to illness.
“I kind of felt unprepared, I have been sick with walking pneumonia for the past two weeks before this so this past week, on Wednesday and yesterday were my first practice back so I felt under prepared but I was happy with what I did,” said Baumann.
There were some standouts that didn’t make it to state but still performed well.
Brittney Smith who is the first alternate on both first meter and three-meter board took 9th place in the events.
Joey Silvey who has had little diving experience took 9th place in the one-meter dive.
The dive team’s next stop is the state championships at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park.
“We have two that qualified, Cammi and Jose, and then we also have Brittney as the first alternate on both boards and Joey as the first alternate on one meter,” said Wimberly.
Wimberly said he feels good going into the championships.
When asked on their feelings toward the state championships Wimberly replied, “Good, hopefully. Cammi’s healthy, she’s been sick. Jose is starting to get his groove and starting to dive well especially for a first-year diver. I think everyone is happy. I know I am,” he said.
Delta College’s dive team is set to compete at the state championships on May 4-6.