To view action photos of both the District 1 Diving and Swimming Championships, visit the photo gallery and click on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
By B.J. Stuetz, Student Intern, Cheltenham High School
“Divers are risk takers. The risk factor is always present.” – Bob Israel.
Natalee Szopo experienced her diving coach’s warning firsthand during her sophomore season at Upper Moreland.
While attempting a reverse one-and-a-half somersault dive, her left hand crashed down onto the board during her descent. Her hand was fractured in several places, prompting her doctor to put a hard cast on it, saying that she would not be able to compete for about a month.
And with the District One meet coming up in four weeks, it was no sure thing that Natalee was going to be able to dive in the postseason. But sure enough, the day before districts, her doctor allowed her to switch to a lighter cast so she could compete.
With minimal practice beforehand, Natalee stepped onto the diving board and overcame not only the reverse one-and-a-half somersault dive, but also each of her other ten dives in route to a second place finish.
Natalee Szopo, currently ranked first in the state as a junior, admitted that it was not easy to attempt that dive again.
“The only dive I was mainly worried about was the dive I hurt my hand on. The whole execution of the dive was difficult because the whole left side of my body was off-balance,” explained Natalee.
But she was able to conquer this fear and then some because she went on to finish fourth at the PIAA Championship shortly thereafter.
Her coach, Bob Israel, cites this turnaround as the main reason that he considers Natalee the most courageous athlete he’s ever coached.
“It was tough for her to overcome, but she did overcome it…that was just remarkable to me. The sign of a truly courageous athlete,” praised Israel.
Further reasoning for this is found in Natalee’s performance at states her freshman year. Although she had just won the district championship, Israel still wasn’t sure what to expect from his swimmer at her first state meet.
She showed great determination by recovering from a poor jump near the end of the competition to finish with two incredible dives. Israel explained that she could have coasted through the rest of the competition, realizing that she could no longer place in the top two or three positions.
But instead, she fought back and ended up finishing in fourth place.
“Right then I saw a very special athlete that had shown some real talent and took another step in her development as a great diver,” said Israel.
As for this year, Natalee won both the SOL and District Championships, posting an outstanding overall score of 452.55 at districts, a new Upper Moreland High School team record. This score has given her the top ranking in the state out of all AA schools.
But it has also given her a certain amount of pressure to finish on top at this year’s state championships taking place on Wednesday, March 16.
According to Natalee, “I absolutely feel the pressure. It’s hard going into a meet ranked number one and finishing in that same spot.”
Israel believes that two of the things that will certainly benefit her at the State competition are her focus and persistence.
“She is very focused. She’s driven. In practice when she doesn’t do a dive well, she wants to get back up on the board and do it better,” he explained.
Natalee’s ultimate goal, however, has always been to dive at the collegiate level. One of the things that she’s done to try to ensure this is joining the USS Circuit, which offers a serious out-of-school diving program. This, as her coach notes, will help her get seen by more colleges across the country.
Regardless of where she ends up, coach Israel admires what she has done at the high school level up to this year.
“She’s a great athlete and I have a lot of respect for what she’s accomplished this year in addition to her freshman and sophomore years,” said Israel.
Natalee’s main competition throughout this year’s season has been someone very similar to her. In fact, Natalee says that people often get the two of them confused because they are so much alike.
Sydney Szopo, Natalee’s younger sister, also dives for Upper Moreland as a freshman and has been making quite a “splash” herself as the season has gone on.
Suddenly stepping out of her sister’s shadow within the last few meets, Sydney finished sixth at SOLs and followed that up with an outstanding improvement of 20 points to finish second at districts, right behind her sister.
This improvement and second place finish propelled her into the state championships where she will compete alongside Natalee.
“She was much more consistent at the district meet than she was at the Suburban meet, and I think that was a big part of her improvement,” concluded her coach.
Coming into the season with relatively low expectations, Sydney has overachieved according to both herself and her coach.
“Sydney had it as a goal to make it to States, but I don’t believe she thought it was really possible. My hope [for her] was to finish in the top four or five at districts. To finish second and advance to states is well beyond what I had expected,” offered Israel.
When asked if she expected to make it this far as a freshman, Sydney said frankly, “No way. I didn’t really know my potential.”
In regard to whether he believes Sydney is on the same pace that Natalee was, Israel explained.
“It’s a little hard to gauge,” he said. “At the beginning of the season I didn’t think she was at the same place that I remember Natalee being as a freshman. However, as the season has gone on, and the improvement that I have seen from Sydney, I think she has made some great progress.”
Natalee attempted to bring an end this discussion by saying that Sydney is on the same pace that she was, if not better.
“My freshman year I was ranked 12th in the state and she’s ranked 10th, so she’s upped me,” pointed out Natalee.
Whether or not they believe that Sydney is on the same pace, both Natalee and Sydney agree that having each other has helped each of them become so successful as the season has worn on.
“Natalee gets me through every meet. She calms me down and makes me positive,” said Sydney.
“It has certainly helped Sydney watching Natalee grow and develop. And Natalee’s support has definitely helped Sydney get to where she is today,” offered Israel.
Israel sees the divers’ unique situation as a clear benefit to Natalee as well.
“One of the things that I have found over the years as a coach that I really believe makes athletes better, is when you have good competition around you…when you have a good athlete with others who are maybe not quite as good, but certainly around pushing you, I think that’s what makes them great.”
As for Bob Israel, he had served as Upper Moreland’s head swimming coach for 31 years before accepting a new role as the diving coach several years ago. He looked at it as one last “hoorah,” at first saying he would probably only coach for a year or two.
But here he is four years later loving his new position. He refuses to take much credit at all for his divers’ success though, saying that at times he mainly just tries “not to mess things up”.
However, if you ask his divers, he plays a much larger role in their success than he either admits or realizes.
“If I’m having problems he’ll always help me get through it. He has a very motivational way to him, always motivating us to do the best that we can do at all times, and he doesn’t accept anything less,” explained Natalee.
And according to Sydney: “He gets me really ready for what I have to do. So I actually give him more credit than me because all I have to do is go out there and do it.”
So it seems that the three of them will remain at a stalemate as to how much of a role Israel plays in their success.
But the reason that coach Israel has stuck around as Upper Moreland’s diving coach remains clear.
“I’ve been blessed with excellent athletes,” he said, “which really makes a difference.”
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