6 members of the Swim and Dive team made it to the State Competition this year. Two of the diving competitors happen to be siblings, Anne and Jack Kumashiro. They have been diving for 5 years together and look to make a splash at States.

Anne started dive when she was 11 years old and she “didn’t really like it at first because she thought it was going to be really hard and then she started to enjoy it a lot more. Jack started dive at the same time as Anne. They “actually started Swim and Dive at the same time, but liked Dive more,” so they just decided to do Dive from that point on.

When asked how the Wakefield coaches have influenced them Anne said,”Coach Patrick has challenged me and has pushed me to do dives other coaches couldn’t get me to do… he encourages us to be better.” Jack spoke of another coach who has impacted their lives; “Our summer coach…Coach Anita…she is really nice. She helps us with our technique and advances our dives. Coach Patrick really gets me to do harder dives that I wouldn’t normally do on my own.”

How do these siblings deal with high pressure situations like State Competitions? Anne said, “When I feel pressure it usually comes off as me being hyper. Honestly, I’ve just learned to push that pressure into focus…not to focus on the scores I need to get, but on the team and what is happening right then. I try not to focus on the end game.” Way to live in the moment, Anne. Jack has a similar strategy; “I don’t like looking at the scores. I like focusing on the dive I am doing next and what I need to do to do my very best. It usually works out in the end.” We hope so, Jack! Solid advice.

The two other divers competing at States today  at 10am are Justin Clark (from HB Woodlawn) and Antonia Kotliarov. Tomorrow, swimmers Emily Andrews and Anthony Doll compete at 9am.

Keep up with States  updates @WHSswim_dive.