WILLIAMSBURG — Williamsburg-James City County Schools recently announced that the sport of diving would be making a return to the varsity sport offerings at all three WJCC high schools.
Adam Otstot, WJCC Schools Coordinator of Health and Physical Education, is happy to be bringing the sport back.
“Bringing this sport back comes down to two key components. Number one, I want to make sure that we are creating opportunities as much as we possibly can division-wide. This is a great way for us to open up another avenue for our students to be active and to be involved with athletics, who may otherwise not be motivated to participate in an athletic program. Secondly, having a dive team really does strengthen our swim teams. It gives all three of our swim teams the best possible chance to be as competitive as possible,” Otstot said.
Diving was originally part of the swim team program but was discontinued after the 2013 season. After trying to re-launch the program in recent years, the diving component returns during the 2023-224 competition slate as a shared program amongst the three high schools this season.
Divers will belong to their home high school swim team and will compete in select meets alongside the swimmers. The five divers (one from Warhill, two from Lafayette, and two from Jamestown) will be able to contribute points to the swim team total. This will allow for higher scores and potential state championship berths for their teams.
“When our divers compete, they will compete for their home school. The only unique situation with us is that we’re collaborating on the practice piece and a coaching perspective. We have one coach that is coaching the divers from all three schools during practice times,” Otstot said.
Currently, the five divers are practicing together twice a week for an hour in Newport News. Most of the divers are also swimmers on their individual high school teams and practice at 757Swim at the WISC.
The swim and dive season is underway, with meets continuing until the first week of February. All teams compete at the Hampton Aquaplex.