This week’s notebook highlights swimmers/divers from Tennent, Hatboro-Horsham and Upper Dublin. To view photos of the CB East Relay Carnival, please visit the Photo Gallery.
National Conference
Sullivan diving in for Tennent - Luke Sullivan isn’t afraid to try something new.
The William Tennent senior swimmer is taking a crack at diving this year.
He’s a little long in the tooth to be learning how to dive competitively, but that hasn’t stopped him.
“I’m having a lot of fun, but it’s a lot different from swimming,” he said.
He decided to have a go at it over the summer when he realized his summer club, Maplewood, didn’t have any divers.
“We didn’t have anyone to do it so I just figured I’d try it and see what happened,” he said. “I also saw that there would be an opportunity to dive for Tennent because Ian (Forlini) was our only diver, so I thought I could fill the need for them, too.”
He made his diving debut at the Central Bucks East Relays, the traditional kickoff meet for the season.
Diving in tandem with Forlini, he posted a six-dive score of 110.05 points as the duo took first place in the event.
“That was my first high school diving competition and I was really nervous, especially for the first dive,” he said. “I’m not a big fan of front dives and that’s what I did, but once I got that out of the way I felt a lot better.
“Now that I’ve done it I think I’ll be less nervous next time, and I’m happy with how I dove. My goal was to break 100 and I did it so hopefully it will go up from there.”
Sullivan has been swimming for six years and is primarily a distance freestyler.
“Diving has impacted my swim training because there are times when I have to stop swimming so I can work on diving but I’m fine with it,” he said.
Continental Conference
Wawrzyniak looking for good things - Maddy Wawrzyniak of Hatboro-Horsham is optimistic about her team.
“I’m really looking forward to this season,” said Wawrzyniak, a senior. “We got a lot of new freshmen in, and I’ve never seen that much talent. I can’t wait to see what they can do.”
The Hatters are in a very difficult conference with the likes of defending District One Class AAA champion North Penn, perennial contenders Souderton, Central Bucks East, Central Bucks South and Central Bucks West and the competitive Pennridge all vying for the top spot while Quakertown strives to make improvements.
“Definitely, we’re in a tough league and every meet is a challenge,” she said. “You think about all the good teams we swim and it’s amazing how much talent there is out there, so when you win a meet, it’s an accomplishment because you know you did it against really good competition.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Having a good record is very important but it’s also very important to swim against challenging opponents so you can really improve.
“I think our team is going to be very good, but you never know how it’s going to turn out and that’s what makes it interesting.”
Wawrzyniak has been swimming since fourth grade and would like to swim in college.
“I hope to be able to work that out but academics come first,” she said. “I’m not really sure what I’m going to major in but I like biology and engineering. It’s hard to figure out but I still have time. I’m also looking into the ROTC as an option.”
She is involved with student council and the advisory board at school but doesn’t participate in any other sports.
“I’ve been swimming since fourth grade and I love it,” she said. “This is what I do. It’s hard to commit to swimming and do other sports so this was my focus.”
American Conference
Johnson more than just a diver - Corey Johnson enters this season as the District One Class AAA defending champion in diving.
But what people might not know about the Upper Dublin senior is that she was also a district qualifier in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing 24th and posting a time of 25.52.
And this year she intends to take swimming more seriously.
“Last year I just hopped into a few meets, but this year I’m really excited about it and I plan to work harder at it,” she said.
“I’ve been swimming for a while now, and it’s difficult to balance swimming with my outside diving (at Centennial Diving) but I try to do as much as I can.
“Swimming really makes me feel like I’m a more a part of the team. I really enjoy the 50 free. Last year I was happy to make it to districts and I’m hoping to repeat that this year.”
She’s been diving since she was a child watching other brother Drew.
“I saw him up on the board at a young age and I was really excited to follow him,” she said. “I really just stuck with it.”
She finished eighth at the PIAA meet.
“I’m hoping to get back there and improve on my finish this year,” she said. “Right now I’m looking forward to trying some more new dives and get them into meets so I’ll have them ready for districts. It’s early so I have time to work on things.
“I don’t have time to do much else but I really love diving and swimming so I’m happy to send the time doing it, and it’s worth it at the end when you see your improvements.
Next year she will continue her career at Virginia, where she plans to major in kinesiology.
“I’m excited to do that,” she said.
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