The diving team at South Lakes is small, but it has a lot of talent. There are only a few divers, including our only senior, Evan Melnick. It is predicted that this year, Evan will get an all-American score. To be entered into the All American competition, you have to score high enough during districts, regionals, and other meets. If you have a qualifying score, you are required to send a video of your diving to the all American committee, and they rescore all of your dives. If you score in the top 100 in the nation, you get an all-American score. Evan will find out in late April if he receives an All-American score and title. 

I asked Evan what experiences he had on the South Lakes dive team that led up to his All American opportunity. He described how small the dive team was and how  he was the only senior. Additionally, there were three juniors and one sophomore. Some may see being the only senior as a bad thing, but Evan felt it was a “great mix of different ages.” He additionally states that there is always good community and energy on the team all around. Everyone is always there to support and encourage each other.

Evan’s favorite part about diving is competing. In his last meet, he decided to put all of his favorite challenging dives into one routine in hopes of scoring high. On senior night, his routine included a triple front flip, a front flip with a triple twist, and a backflip two and a half twist. All of the dives went very well, and he was able to achieve the score he was hoping to. You usually do six dives, and for districts and regionals, you have to do 11. Many people try to experiment with new dives during districts and regionals with hopes to earn a competitive score. Evans’ favorite moment from the reason is when every guy tried to do a triple front flip at the same time as a team, even though none of them nailed it, they were all able to laugh together.