A View From The Top

Nick McCrory jumped off a diving board for the first time when he was a toddler wearing little water wings. Today, at 17, the East Chapel Hill High School Senior has grown from a water-winged pre-schooler to the best male high school diver in North Carolina, propelling himself through the air from the 10-meter platform as if he has wings of flight. Last summer, McCrory came within a whisker of making the 2008 U.S. Olympic diving team. Only two divers were selected. A fourth place finish at the Olympic trials in Indianapolis, IN earned him a berth at the national team selection camp in Knoxville, TN, and he emerged as the U.S. team's alternate. "I was a little disappointed, but that was just my first shot," McCrory said. At 16, he would have been one of the youngest 10-meter divers in Beijing. McCrory started competitive diving when he was a seven-year-old swimmer, enviously watching other kids dive. "Diving looked like so much more fun than swimming," he said. Quickly, the fun turned into a huge lifelong passion. For nearly 10 years, he dove under the skillful coaching of Nunzio Esposto with the Triangle Aquatics Club in Chapel Hill. Today, he trains with Duke University Head Diving Coach Drew Johansen, and has signed with Duke's diving team after he graduates from East Chapel Hill this spring. "Both Nunzio and Drew are awesome coaches," McCrory said. "They have taught me so much." "Nick is one of the most talented divers I have worked with in my career," Johansen said. " He's the total package as a student athlete, excelling in the pool as well as in the classroom. He has the potential to go as far as he wants to, and is a top hopeful for the 2012 Olympics, plus he will win a lot of national titles between now and then." McCrory is a 10-meter specialist. Climbing to the top of a 10-meter tower and diving off is not for the faint of heart. At 33-feet, it is like diving off of a three-story building and hitting the water at 30 miles per hour. "Hitting the water at that velocity will definitely get you if you go in the wrong way," he said. He usually tapes his right wrist for extra reinforcement. Wrist-taping is allowed in competition, and some divers wear wrist braces, similar to those gymnasts wear. The Duke Natatorium is one of the few facilities in North Carolina with a 10-meter diving platform, and that's where McCrory can be found training at least four hours a day. He also does dry land training on a trampoline with spotter belts to allow for more hurdle repetition with less wear and tear on his body. In one two-hour practice session, he completes 10-meter dives as many as 15 times. From the spring board, he typically practices 50-60 diving hurdles. A hurdle is the hop a diver makes at the end of a spring board that propels him into the air in preparation for a dive. Using dry land equipment, he is able to practice up to 100 hurdles in a session. McCrory has won three straight N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A diving titles, and earned his first senior national title last July with a victory in the men's platform at the 2008 Kaiser Permanente National Diving Championships in Pasadena, CA. McCrory has a lean build, with muscle mass concentrated in his legs. His training is largely confined to diving, but he works out to keep his body conditioned and flexible. He focuses on developing his core muscles to execute the aerial acrobatics his dives require, and to make sure his body is positioned so it rips the water - or makes no splash - upon entry. McCrory's favorite dive is called a 207C in diver-speak. In English, this means a back 3 ½ somersault in a tuck position. "I do this dive all the time, and was very consistent at the Olympic trials," he said. "I scored three 10s in the finals with this dive." Ten is a perfect score. The words "dive," " 10-meter platform" and "scared" would be in the same sentence for most people, but McCrory's description of his scariest dive also contains the words "handstand backward triple somersault." He describes the move in sweat-inducing detail: "You go to the end of the platform. Press up into a handstand, then pull your legs back and kick so that you fall backwards into the pool," he said. "The scariest part is getting up into the handstand. I eventually got over the fear of that dive and now it is one of my best." McCrory has scaled the heights of the diving world and his name joins a small group of world-class names on the rosters of most competitions. Two of these are Thomas Finchum and David Boudia, who beat out McCrory for the two U.S. Olympic team slots. Finchum and Boudia left Beijing at fifth in synchronized diving. Boudia finished 10th and Finchum 12th in individual diving. Chinese divers continue to raise the bar. "The top Chinese diver is the only one in the world who is doing a triple out, which is a front 2 ½ pike with three twists," McCrory said. "I can do a double out now, but I have a ways to go before I can do a triple." Right now, McCrory is on the hunt for his fourth high school state championship. In the midst of competing for that at the end of February, he will travel to Ohio State University and attempt to dive his way into the 2009 FINA World Championships July 18-Aug. 2 in Rome. "I also hope to compete in the 2009 World University Games in Belgrade in July," McCrory said. Meanwhile, he has his eye on the 2012 Olympics in London. Then there's college to consider. "Nick will be a freshman at Duke next year, and we are excited he chose the Blue Devils," his coach said. "I'm looking forward to helping him achieve his NCAA goals in the future, as well as his national and international goals." What does a world class diver do on his day off? "Well, during the school week, I'm always on the go," he said. "When I go to practice, I do get a few minutes to relax before starting, but I don't have much downtime." When McCrory does have time on the weekends, he enjoys going to the movies and hanging out with friends. And he tries to make time to play and have fun. In the middle of his awesome, award-winning twisting, turning acrobatics in mid-air, does he ever just cut loose and do a big old-fashioned cannonball off the springboard into the middle of the pool? He laughs. "I can make a pretty big splash," he said. In more ways than one.