Westwood's Irina Chiulli Dazzles as a Diver

Every so often there is a student athlete who goes above and beyond the norm.

In Westwood's case, there is 15 year old sophomore Irina Chiulli, who was just crowned the Division 2 State Diving Champion for the second straight year.

Chiulli, accompanied by her father and sister, was honored at the December 16 School Committee meeting for her tremendous accomplishments.

"Sometimes when we start talking about athletics, I exaggerate and gush," Athletic Director Karl Fogel said. "But it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Irina is one of the best athletes in years."

Chiulli had just come from a diving practice to be recognized by the committee. Fogel described her as hard working and "really something to watch." She has dove in Florida during the summers and recently came back from Canada.

"When you see Irina dive for the first time, it is breathtaking," said Fogel.

School Committee member John O'Brien also acknowledged how talented Chiulli is. O'Brien's daughter, Amy, is a freshman on the swim team, and he has had the chance to see Chiulli dive firsthand. Also, O'Brien said that his wife is an all American diver and she has always has compliments for her skills.

"That young lady makes the diving competition absolutely wonderful to watch," said O'Brien. "She is truly a wonderful diver."

Diving is something that Chiulli has only been involved with for two years, which makes her status as the state champion even more outstanding. Chiulli attributes her six years in gymnastics to some of her success. However, she sustained several injuries in gymnastics, and chose to go a different route.

"Irina was a gymnast for many years, which gave her the physical attributes to do it," said Roy Chiulli.

This year, she was undefeated in diving, winning all dual meets, Southern Conference title, Sectional title and State title.

Four times this year she broke the Westwood High School dual diving record of 255 points that was set in 1996. Her highest total was 280 points versus Ursuline Academy.

Chiulli also set a new Southern Conference diving championship record at 272 points. She was chosen as a Southern Conference All-Star in both her freshman and sophomore seasons and was selected for Boston Globe All-Scholastic honors in the fall of 2009 and 2010. Chiulli has also qualified to compete at the national USA Diving Championship and the AAU Diving Championships the past two years.

Chiulli's accomplishments have also been recognized by her teammates, when she was chosen as the team's most valuable player for both her freshman and sophomore seasons. She has been a two-time Westwood High School Athlete of the Week.

But it isn't just diving that Chiulli excels at. She is an honor roll student at Westwood High School and is a former Massachusetts state gymnastic champion in level seven.

She has qualified for both Sectional and State meets in the 100 yard backstroke this year. Her best time was 1:07.

"My goals at the beginning of the 2010 swim season were to break the Westwood High School diving record and to qualify for states in the 100 yard backstroke," said Chiulli. "I was pretty excited to be able to accomplish both goals."

Chiulli also swam under 30 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle this year. In the 2010 Bay State Games in July, she was the winner of the one meter diving event for the 13/14-year-old division. She placed second in the three meter diving event in the 15 through 18-year-old division.

So what's next for Chiulli? She said that she would like to dive in college and be considered for a scholarship. In order of her to do so, she needs to include a few more dives and perform current dives better. At 15 years old, with two years of high school left, the sky is the limit.

"She dives at a national level and is very fortunate," said Roy Chiulli, Irina's father. "She has the physical gifts and does the hard work to improve."