Delta’s divers a small but devoted group
Afraid of heights? Diving may not be the sport for you.
But never fear, Coach Robert Wimberly is an excellent teacher.
In fact, the Delta College’s diving team is mostly composed of students new to the sport.
The dive team has five members.
All members compete except one who practices and will compete next year.
One member, Kassandra Gressele, dove in high school.
Another, Kelsey Agardy, began as a swimmer, and decided to jump into new waters with the diving team.
“Being a swimmer does not give you an advantage in diving. Diving is more comparable to gymnastics. They are only alike because they take place in a pool,” said Wimberly, who picked up diving at Tokay High School for fun, then went on to dive at the University of Western Kentucky.
A typical practice for the team begins with very thorough stretching, practice dives, some jogging, jumping on a giant trampoline to improve form, then run throughs, as if it were a real meet.
Wimberly has been coaching at Delta for four years and has seen much success.
Last year one of his divers, Olivia Salvatore-King, took second in state, and has a good chance of doing the same this year.
This year, he says he expects to see two divers make it to state.
Wimberly welcomes new divers to the program.
“Even if you are not the best, I will make you the strongest,” he said.
