Timberland's Canedy Jumps Into State Ranks

Home. School. Pool. Home.

So went the days of January for ’s Crystal Canedy, the winter routine pulling its usual tricks of blurring together the finer points of her days.

Such as state-ranking dives.

The junior diver recently punched her ticket to the 2011 State Swimming and Diving Championships by notching a 232.90 score in a six-dive competition at the dual meet on Jan. 19. The achievement came not only as her personal best, but also ranked her eighth in Missouri, a detail almost missed by the diver herself.

“My coach texted me later that weekend, and I was shocked,” Canedy said. “It was definitely the best meet I’ve had so far, so I was pretty happy about that, but also surprised. I was in a rush to get out of there. I had some family stuff, so I was in a hurry out after I dove.

“When you have other things on your mind, I guess there’s just less thinking and more doing what I usually do. I think that helped a little bit.”

Don’t let her make you think she’s mailing in her talent, fitting quick dives in between pop quizzes and dinner with the family. After winning the Gateway Athletic Conference as a sophomore last season, Canedy has taken natural ability and begun taking the steps to saturate it with hard work.

“She told me at the end of the year she might want to pursue diving in college,” said Timberland swim coach Theresa Cordonier. “She joined a club team over the summer and has been really working her butt off, perfecting her dives. You can see a vast difference from last year, she’s improved so much. She looks amazing.”

Canedy logged summer hours at the with the St. Louis Diving Club, run by SLU and  coach Greg Triefenbach. He is also part of a coaching tree that instructs all the , Francis Howell and school divers. The St. Louis Diving Club’s conglomerate of all different levels of divers made an immediate impact on Canedy both in and out of the water.

“It’s good to see other ranges of divers, some who have been diving their whole life,” Canedy said. “You see the state champions, all the college divers, it really shows you what kind of future there is to diving. Gives you something to look up to; if you work at it, this is what you can be like.”

Canedy qualified for the 2001 State Championships based on three judged scores, multiplied by a degree of difficulty. The DD for state qualification is set at 12.0; Canedy has been performing with a multiplier of 12.3. Her new best score is 11 points higher than her 2010 high-water mark of 221.80, also a state qualifier – albeit one she hopes yields a better outcome.

Canedy, also a cheerleader, competed at the cheerleading nationals at Disney World in Florida just before the 2010 Diving Championships, providing her with little time to mentally prepare to compete from the diving board. She failed to make the first cut, finishing 33 in the group.

With nothing to focus on but diving this February, her chance for vengeance may not be lost in the shuffle.

“I’m nervous for state, I’m not going to lie,” she said. “Just knowing that I can perform that well, it’s like added pressure that (eighth place) is where I’m ranked right now. But my focus wasn’t where it should have been, and I had a really off day the last time I was at state. I want to do a lot better than last year. I’m definitely looking forward to it.”