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Community Corner

Whirlwind Diving Rules Lords of the Boards

Congratulations to the New Canaan YMCA Whirlwind Diving Team who traveled to Bridgewater NJ on Nov. 23-24 to kick off their season at the Annual Lords of the Boards Autumn Classic.  At a meet that featured a total of 193 divers, representing 17 teams from 4 states, Whirlwind Diving’s 25 divers dominated in nearly every event, capturing the Championship Team title, besting the second place team by 18 points.

Whirlwind debuted 3 of their new young diving stars in the 9U age group, with great success.  All three divers hail from Stamford, and this was their first experience diving at the JO level. Diver Shannon Rust finished in 1st place in both the 1M and 3M springboard competitions. Diver Vahram Tchakmakjian finished in 2nd place in both of his events, and Sawyer Neyer came in 6th place on 1M and 5th place in the 3M competition.  This strength at the young age group bodes well for the future of this storied Diving team! 

In the 12-13 age group, Whirlwind continued their dominance in both the boys and girls events.  For the boys, Darien divers Wiley Schmidt and Owen Stevens took 1st and 2nd places in the 1M competition and 1st and 3rd places in the 3M. Norwalk diver Kevin Bradley captured 6th place in both of his events.  New Canaan Divers Anne Farley and Claire Ross added to the medal count by finishing in 2nd and 4th place on the 1M board, and 1st and 3rd place in the 3M event. 

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The 14-15 age group yielded more success for the team with Timothy Luz (Darien) taking 4th place on the 1M and 1st place on the 3M.  The New Canaan divers Cameron Rhind (6th place on 1M and 4th on 3M), Griffin Edmonds (16th on 1M and 9th on 3M) and Tom Kalinowski (13th on 1M), as well as Weston diver Liam Simmons (14th place in both events), added to the strength of the boys in this age group.  In the girls competition on 1M, Rachel Burston (Stamford) captured 4th place and Katie Kushner (New Canaan) finished in 14th place.

The 16-18 age group for Whirlwind is incredibly deep.  Boasting 6 high school All-American divers, the team continued to acquire medals in this age group.  In the 1M boys competition,  Sean Burston (Stamford), Jake Bowtell (Darien), Kyle O’Donnell (Darien), Bobby Ross (New Canaan), Steven Kreutch (Darien), and Matthew Mintz (Redding) captured 2nd, 4th, 7th, 11th, 15th, and 16th places, respectively.  On the 3M board Jake Bowtell took 1st, Sean Burston 3rd, Kyle O’Donnell 10th, and Matthew Mintz finished 14th. 

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Whirlwind’s 16-18 girls swept the 1M event, with Kylie Towbin (New Canaan), Rachel Burston (Stamford), and Kirsten Parkinson (Stamford) standing on the podium in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places!  Rounding out the competition on 1M for Whirlwind were Katie Kushner (New Canaan) in 8th, Kyla Pech (Darien) 10th, and Olivia Park (New Canaan) 19th.  Kylie was a double gold medalist, taking 1st also on the high board, with Kirsten in 3rd and Olivia finishing 11th. 

Overall it was a tremendous start to the 2013-14 competition season for the Whirlwind Diving team which practices out of the New Canaan YMCA. 

December and January will be quiet months for the team with an inter-squad meet and a training trip planned; the divers will all be back in action on their home boards on Feb.7-9th at the Annual Whirlwind Winter Weekend Invitational.

For additional information about the New Canaan YMCA Whirlwind Diving Team, contact Joe Somma at jsomma@newcanaanymca.org.

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