Willowbrook Wins Diving Championship, Sends 3 to All-Star Event

At Wednesday's Northern Westchester Swimming Conference diving championship, the pressure was on when 24 kids and teens stepped onto the diving board, in front of a quiet audience with the same goal in mind: to be doing the same thing the next day. 

It was Willowbrook won as a dive team at the championship, held at the Chappaqua Swim & Tennis Club. Yorktown and Birchwood tied for second, Chappaqua Swim & Tennis received third place, Katonah took home fourth place and Mounth Kisco Memorial was awarded fifth place.

Six divers participated in each category; Girls 13 and under, Boys 13 and under, Girls 18 and under and Boys 18 and under. The judges were the coaches from each team. The four divers to take first place in their category will be going to the All-Star meet, being held today in Lewisboro.

"I felt pretty confident," said 12-year-old Chris Rabasco, of the Yorktown team, about his dive. He won first place in his category. His dives earned a total of 92.25 points at the meet. 

However, the vast age range and experience level among all the divers lead to different emotions among participants. 

"I was nervous because I'm competing against kids that were older then me," said Elodie Nix, 9, of the Katonah team. 

Other first place winners are Stevie Meyerson in the girls 13 and under category with 115.05 points, Sara Blacker, in the girls 18 and under category with 113.95 points, and Aaron Wald in the boys 18 and under with 136.85 points.

Since all three of these divers are on the Willowbrook team, coach Victor Byrne is very proud.

"It's great to see us take first place in both age groups," said Byrne, who has been coaching for 16 years. When mentioning how well the other teams did, Byrne said,"as a coach, I always enjoy good competition, it was a pleasure to watch" he added.

Meyerson, Blacker, Rabasco and Wald, will be diving at the Lewisboro All-Star Dive meet, along with other first place divers around Westchester.