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2010-2011 News

McCormick Divers Youngest Members Prep for Home Meet
By Jessica Pollack

McCormick Divers are preparing Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool to host the Glenn McCormick Memorial Invitational Dive Meet.  November 12-14, up to 500 families from Southern California and other Western States will come to Long Beach for the annual competition. 

Divers from six-years old and up are scheduled to compete in Novice, Junior Olympic, and Master’s competitions. Long Beach’s youngest divers are excited to compete close to home for a hometown audience.

Among the local divers are some of the area’s youngest athletes including 7-year-old Isabella Markham from Seal Beach and Drew Coomans from Long Beach. Drew’s 9-year-old sisters Anna and Natalie will be competing in the 9-and-under girls events.  Other divers in the 9-and-under girls are sisters 8-year-old Tatum and 9-year-old Laine Marshall and Jenna Sonnenberg who all attend Patrick Henry Elementary School, and Madeleine Tully also from Long Beach.  Madeleine’s little brother, Marcus will compete in the boys 7-and-under events. 

In the 10-to-11 year old girls, Allison DeYoung and Mady Halbert of Long Beach, Malia Armstrong of Seal Beach and Michelle Lee of Hacienda Heights will compete in the Novice girls and Long Beach divers Megan Marino, Sarah Knippa, and Keri Erkman and Huntington Beach Jacqui Cleugh compete in the 11-and-under Junior Olympic events.

McCormick Divers is the longest continuously running dive program in Southern California.  They have trained at Belmont Plaza pool year-round since it opened in 1968.  Glenn McCormick was instrumental in the design of the dive area of the pool.  McCormick Divers is proud to hold this annual meet in his memory.

2009-2010 News

Long Beach Diver Medals at Master's

(Also read on gazettessports.com here)

by Jessica Pollack

Long Beach resident Charly Collins is used to spending his weekends at springboard and platform dive meets.  In the past six years, it has been as a coach and judge for Long Beach McCormick Divers.  This weekend, he was back on the boards in the USA Diving Summer Masters National Championships held at UCLA. 

He won third place with 405.60 points on the 3-meter springboard.  This is a personal best in the 30-34 year old Men’s Category.  Collins says he’s pleased to have done so well in an age group that is still very competitive.  Master’s Competitions are open to divers 21 years and older who are no longer competing in the Senior Level competitions used to choose the U.S. international teams including World Championships and Olympics.  Often, competitors in their 30’s are still fresh off of the Senior circuit and still in top competitive form.

Collins also competed in the platform competition earning his best scores on a forward one-and-a-half somersault with a full twist.  He says that next year, if he is up to competing in Master’s Competitions, he’ll take some extra time out of his coaching schedule at McCormick Divers who train at Belmont Plaza Olympic for his own training sessions.  Collins admits that his biggest challenge is taking time for training while he’s busy preparing his divers for their own National Competitions.

 

Long Beach Divers Return from National Championships

(Also read on Gazettessports.com here)

by Jessica Pollack 

Six local divers who train at Belmont Olympic Plaza Pool in Long Beach recently returned home from the American Athletic Union (AAU) Diving National Championships in Coral Springs, Florida.  The divers train with McCormick Divers, a local aquatics club.  McCormick’s top finisher was Lakewood resident, Nykola Bodnar, a St. Anthony student who finished 4th in the 16-year-old boys 1-meter springboard competition.  Nyko opened the competition strong with high marks on his initial dives and his highest marks for his inward one-and-a-half somersault tuck in the final round. 

Three McCormick girls competed in their first-ever National competition.  10-year-old Jacqueline Cleugh from Huntington Beach and 11-year-old Megan Marino from Long Beach both had their best finish on the 3 meter springboard competitions.  Jacqui finished 7th in the 10 year old girls with her best score on her inward one and a half somersault dive.  She also competed on 1 meter springboard and 5 meter platform in the 11-and-under category finishing in 10th place in each competition.  Megan finished 6th on 3 meter springboard in the 11 year old girls age group.  Megan earned her top scores on her first and last dives an inward dive in pike position and an inward one and a half in tuck position.  Megan finished 12th in the 1 meter springboard competition.  Erica Curry from Fountain Valley finished 24th in the very competitive 16 year girl 1 meter springboard competition.  She earned her best scores with her forward double somersault.

The club also boasts some of the strongest boy divers in Southern California.  Huntington Beach resident Brandon Loschiavo finished 6th in the 1 meter and 8th in the 3 meter 13 year old boys competitions.   Brandon’s top score was on his forward two and a half somersault dive on the 3 meter board and his inward one and a half on the 1 meter board. Seventeen-year-old Whittier resident, Adam Springer finished 6th on the 1 meter springboard and 8th on the 3 meter springboard competition in the 18 year old boys category.  He earned his top scores on his back somersault with one and a half twists on 1 meter and his back one and a half somersault straight on 3 meter springboard.  Adam and Nyko paired up for their first National synchronized diving competition on both 1 and 3 meter boards in the 16 to 18 year boys category. 

 

3McCormick Diver Receives All-American Status

Fellow McCormick Diver, Nyko Bodnar, was among the 130 divers selected at the NISCA H.S. All-American weekend this past June 2-5. The top 130 slots represent the top 1% of high school divers in the country and to be named to this list is a big accomplishment! We are very proud of Nyko and wish him future success in the upcoming summer season (since we have big plans for him now ^.^). GO McCormick!!

Long Beach Post article here <---

If you are interested in seeing the entire list of divers that made the All-American list, as well as the videos of the National Champions, Click here!!!

 

McCormick Diver Receives Scholarship

Congratulations to Larry Reinhard for receiving the Lee Brennan Memorial Scholarship Award this past weekend at the Memorial Meet this past weekend, June 3-5.  This scholarship award is given to high school-aged, graduating seniors and are active participants in the USDiving Southern Pacific Association. Consideration criteria includes: students in good standing with a "C" average, community service,  and other accomplishments and accolades.  Larry, along with this award, receives $2500 to use for his studies next year at Stanford in which he hopes to walk-on to the collegiate diving team.  

LarryCurtMrsBrennan.jpg (311304 bytes)The Lee Brennan Memorial Scholarship was donated from the Brennan family through the Orange Community Foundation. Application for future athletes can be obtained at www.oc.oc-cf.org or through your high school guidance counselor's office.

Congratulations again Larry!!! What a nice honor to be recognized this way. We are all proud of you!!!

 

McCormick Divers Shine at CIF-SS Master's Meet!!!

A very heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS goes out to all 6 of our McCormick Divers that participated in today's CIF-Southern Section "Master's" Championships today (Larry Reinhard, Adam Springer, Deon Reid, Nyko Bodnar, Sydney Czaus, and Paulina Guzman)!!! A day of personal bests and the crowning of Deon Reid and Paulina Guzman as CHAMPION'S of the Southern Section!!!

Below are some of the local article's written about that day. Click on the link to jump to the story.  Enjoy!!!

LongBeachPost.com - Long Beach Divers GO Master

OCVarsity.com - Eagle's Murphy takes Silver at Master's/Reid and Murphy go round

Press-Telegram - Reid, Guzman take Master's Diving Crown

 

McCormick Divers To Compete At CIF Masters Meet

By Ashleigh Oldland (Grunion-Gazette.com)

From platforms and springboards, McCormick Divers are diving into the deep end at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Masters Meet next Tuesday, May 18, at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool.

McCormick Divers, a team founded more than four decades ago, is a year-round program for young people from age 6 to 18. Directed and coached by Debby McCormick, the team primarily practices at Belmont Pool, which was built in 1967 for the 1968 Olympic trials.... (Story after the jump here)

 

Long Beach Divers Headed to CIF Southern Section Finals
By Jessica Pollack

Long Beach is set to host the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet May 18th at Belmont Olympic Pool.  Belmont is home turf for ten McCormick Divers likely to qualify in the four divisions.  Each Division has its own final at Fullerton College May 11, 12, and 13.   The top two finishers in each division plus the next six highest scorers move on to the CIF SS Master Meet.

Division 1 includes 3 boys and 3 girls who represent their high schools for CIF and train with McCormick Divers year round.
Division I girls include Millikan High School Senior, Paulina Guzman who won second place in 2009 and hopes to get gold this year.  Junior, Sydney Czaus, is breaking all Los Alamitos High School Records in Sunset League.  She came third at the CIF SS Masters competition last year and is expected to medal again this year.  Fountain Valley High School sophomore, Erica Curry hopes to earn her first trip to Masters in one of the lottery spots.   Division I Huntington Beach High School Sophomore, Amy Loschiavo, is likely to earn a spot at Masters in her first Championships.

Division I boys include Poly High sophomore, Deon Reid has an excellent chance at a medal again this year after winning Southern Section Masters last year. Wilson High Senior, Larry Reinhard, came in fourth in 2009 and hopes to medal this year.  Los Alamitos High School Sophomore, Adam Payne hopes to earn his first trip to Masters this year.

McCormick-Divers-CIF,-AAU,-.jpg (156538 bytes)In Division II Palos Verdes High SchoolSenior, Mark Bessen hopes for a spot at Masters in this first year diving.  La Serna High School Junior, Adam Springer expects to compete at Masters from Division III and Division IV/Freelance Sophomore and 2009 Division IV Champ, Nyko Bodnar from St. Anthony’s High School expects to round out the McCormick Divers in the Varsity Boys competition.

 

McCormick Divers Head to National Championships

Three Long Beach divers are headed for Minneapolis, Minnesota for the USA Diving Western Junior National Championships.  Wilson High School Senior, Larry Reinhard, Jr. and Poly High School Sophomore, Deon Reid both qualified to compete in the boys 16-18 year old competition.  Millikan High School Senior, Paulina Guzman qualified in the girls 16-18 competition....(Click here to read more!!!)

 

Diving: Two LB Divers Compete For Youth Olympic Berth

Report by Jessica Pollack (as seen on lbpost.com)

Two Junior Divers from McCormick Divers in Long Beach are headed to Columbus, Ohio for the U.S. Youth Olympic Games Trials.  On February 4 and 5, Deon Reid and Sydney Czaus will compete in this first leg in a journey to the Youth Olympic Games. 

Several years in the making, this is the first year of the Youth Olympics.  The diving competition is only open to athletes born in 1993 and 1994 who compete at the national level.  Five thousand athletes from 205 countries are expected in Singapore to compete in 26 sports including diving. 

McCormick Divers Coach, Charly Collins, says this is an amazing opportunity for Junior Divers to experience world level athletics.  With the tight age range and close qualifying scores of divers expected to attend, he believes Reid and Czaus have a good chance receiving top scores in Columbus.  Most of the Youth Games Trial divers will already be in Columbus for the USA Diving Winter Nationals.

Top finishers in Columbus move on to the FINA qualifying event in Guadalajara, Mexico in March.  The competition has four main events on 3 meter springboard and platform competition separated into boys and girls.   The top nine finishers in each event move on to Olympic style competition in Singapore August 14-26, 2010.

Poly High School Sophomore, Deon Reid is excited to attend the Youth Olympic Games Trials.  He expects to encounter tough competition from divers he met at Diving Nationals over the past few years.  Deon needs to perform his personal best to move on to Guadalajara. 

Los Alamitos High School Junior, Sydney Czaus, has an excellent chance at moving on to the next leg.  She will be up against many of the same competitors she has faced at the last USA Diving and AAU Nationals where she finished second in the platform competition.

Both divers train with McCormick Divers at the Belmont Plaza Pool.  Head coach Debby McCormick says “We are all very excited to have our divers represent Long Beach and the United States on the world scene.”  Debby and Asst. Head Coach, Charly Collins, train the divers six days a week with extra platform training every week from Kim Berbari.  All three are very familiar with international competition and excited to help these excellent divers move up to the international competition level.

 

Local Bixby Knolls diver competing for spot at Youth Olympic Games

Bixby Knolls resident Deon Reid (pictured) is in Columbus, Ohio this week, competing as a diver for the U.S. Youth Olympic Games trials. Top finishers there will travel to Guadalajara, Mexico in March for the qualifying event administered by Fédération Internationale de Natation– the organization recognized by the International Olympic Committee for conducting international competitions in aquatic sports... (more after the jump)

 

A couple MCD divers get a glimpse at their high school outlook for the new season: Los Al dive team expects best season ever in 2010  By Jessica Pollack (as posted on sunnews.org)

Los Alamitos High School Divers are gearing up for what Coach Shane Butler expects to be the team’s best season ever in 2010.  Los Al Junior, Sydney Czaus led the Sunset League in 2009 finishing third among the girls at CIF Southern Section Masters Championships. 

The Los Al Varsity Boys easily won the CIF Sunset League title in 2009.  All members of the champion boys’ team, except one 2009 graduate, are returning when the season officially starts in February.

The Sunset League Champion Boys are led by...(Read more here after the jump)

 

Asia Pacific Rim Junior Diving Invitational December 16-18, 2009 .

MCCO_NewZeland01.JPG (3984165 bytes)McCormick Divers were invited to compete in Wellington , New Zealand in December, 2009.  Four of our team members and their families were able to attend and make a family vacation out of the opportunity.  Adam Springer, Erica Curry, Clark Pitti and Paulina Guzman competed at the Wellington Regional Aquatic Center just before Christmas.

We all met at LAX Dec 12 and arrived in New Zealand after traveling for over 21 hours on December 14!  We found the hotel, unpacked our bags and headed right over to the pool!  Each of the kids bounced the boards and did some diving, met a lot of new people and Debby met with some of her old friends from years’ past. 

All of the officials and athletes stayed in the same hotel and ate breakfast lunch and dinner together in one room.  The food was outstanding and satisfied every palate.

Most of the kids managed to find a synchro partner from another country.  What a nice way to meet new friends.  They had “knock off rounds” which was a new experience for our kids.  Once the results were in, the top 6 did a dive off and were eliminated round by round.  They could play it safe and put in their best dives first in order to stay in through the end.  All of the kids got plenty of diving in!

Clark surprised himself and came home with 3 bronze medals.  Erica and Adam worked really hard and made lots of corrections.  Adam won an award at the Award’s banquet for filling his form out wrong!

Paulina really shined on this trip.  She and I were both interviewed and on the New Zealand News.  It is the best she has competed in some time.  She was really steady and finished 2nd to the Chinese gal in both 1 & 3 meters.  I got a lot of positive comments on her diving.

After the meet the kids and parents took off to go bungee jumping and “zip lining”.  I am sure they will be proud to show off those photos!  They also had a chance to see some of the most beautiful countryside anywhere in the world.

This was an invaluable experience for everyone and hopefully it will motivate them to train hard to insure future trips like this one.

 

 

Impromptu USDiving Social Re-Connects Diving Alumni 

A Divers Social was held at BJ’s restaurant in Huntington Beach , on Monday December 7.  The purpose of the event was to bring together alumni and diving coaches.  Debbie Hesse, CEO of US Diving and Steve Foley, High Performance Director of US Diving spoke to the group about their 4 year plan for our sport.  Craig_Deb_Charly.JPG (1905934 bytes)

Debby and Frank Gorman combined efforts to reach out to as many diving coaches and supporters to make the event a success.  40 people “weathered” the stormy day and freeway traffic!  It was a wonderful turn out. 

Frank_Deb_Deb_SteveFelix.JPG (1929847 bytes)Dr. Sammy Lee, Roz Lee, Debbie Hesse, Steve Foley, Debby McCormick, Patty Simms Whiles, Frank Gorman, Felix Grossman, Fred Fox, Ray Vincent,  Chris Boyd, Andy Kwan, Amy Kwan, Steve Eberle, Kevin McMahon,  Jennifer and Grant Lappe, Cole Young, Charly Collins,  Brian Early, Craig Lincoln,  Curt Wilson, Derek Starks, Dave Cotton, Marnie Young, Joe Gerlach, Kathy and Marc Dumais, Tony Cacciapaglia, Larry Brennan,  Kim Stanfield Berberi, Bill Gardner and Nancy Brunet Janik were in attendance.

 

 

Diving Legend Sammy Lee Visits Local Divers

By Jessica Pollack (As posted in www.hbnews.us/feature.html)


     89-year-old Dr. Sammy Lee of Huntington Beach is a legend in the Platform diving world.  Ten meter platform Olympic gold medal winner in London in 1948 and in Helsinki in 1952, Sammy Lee went on to become a respected doctor and a mentor and coach for some of diving’s elite including Greg Louganis and Huntington Beach Resident, Debby McCormick who continues as head coach of McCormick Divers.
    This weekend, Dr. Lee came to Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach to watch the Platform Competition at the Glenn McCormick Memorial Dive Meet.  Dr. Lee has been a great supporter of the team since it started.  Debby McCormick continues the great work Glenn started coaching and mentoring young divers from Orange County and Long Beach.  This year she and coaches Charly Collins, Kim Berbari, and Assistant Coaches Jackie Jones and Cole Young coach some exciting new Orange County Divers.
    15-year-old Amy Losciavo and her 12-year-old brother, Brandon both won their events this first year diving.  Fellow HB resident 13-year-old Clark Pitti used this meet to prepare for 2010 when he has to move up to the next age group.  Clark competed in his first diving Nationals this summer competing in the 13&under competition in Georgia this summer.  Orange County also boasts 15-year-old Erica Curry who competes for Fountain Valley High School in the spring and some new Novice Divers including Jacqui Cleugh from Huntington Beach who competed in the 9&under girls.
    The Glenn McCormick Memorial Dive Meet attracts divers from all over Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, New Mexico and Texas.  This great turn-out for a club meet in such difficult financial times is testament to how well respected Debby and McCormick Divers are in the diving world.  Also notable is the amount of community support.  While ad sales for the program and cash donations are down from previous years, the team has received great door prize, food and merchandise donations from local businesses.  These divers are grateful to local businesses like Universal Care Medical Group, Diets by Design, CAS-Competitive Aquatic Sports, Tru-West, Orthopedic and Spinal Care, and Dr. Ben Rubin for their generous support. 
    Athletes looking to try diving and local businesses interested in being part of local divers’ success are encouraged to contact McCormick Divers at McCormickdiver@aol.com or 714-642-0317. McCormick Divers Booster Club is a registered 501c (3) charity.

 

Former McCormick Diver Gets Once in a Lifetime Opportunity

Chris_Beck-1.jpg (876003 bytes)Chris Beck is a former Master's Diver for McCormick Divers.  He is an Opera singer, teacher and star.  Chris always sings the National Anthem (like no other) at every one of our events. He teaches at Cal State Fullerton and has been contacted  by the New Your Metropolitan.  He will sing for them on December 17th. He is very excited about this!  And we are excited for him. Whether they offer him a contract or not, a chance to sing for the Metropolitan Opera is a less than once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  Way to go Chris!!

 

Diving Legend Sammy Lee Visits Local Divers

Dr. Sammy Lee is a legend in the Platform diving world.  The 89-year-old was the ten meter platform Olympic gold medal winner in London in 1948 and in Helsinki in 1952.  He went on to become a respected doctor and a mentor and coach for some of diving’s elite including Greg Louganis and Glenn McCormick who went on to start McCormick Divers.  This weekend, Dr. Lee came to Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach to watch the Platform Competition at the Glenn McCormick Memorial Dive Meet. Dr, Lee has been a great supporter of the team over the years.  McCormick Divers has called Belmont Plaza Pool home since it was built in 1968.  Debby McCormick continues the great work Glenn started coaching...(Read more here from LBPost.com)

Huntington Beach Independent: Briefly in Sports

Just a short while ago, four Huntington Beach Divers were competitive gymnasts. Now they are preparing for the annual dive meet at their home pool, Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, starting Friday. (Read more here)

 

Glenn McCormick Memorial Meet a HUGE Success!!!

Many thanks to all the parents and divers that helped in organizing this years GMMDI which was the biggest meet year-to-date! We had a few new teams from Nevada and Arizona which pushed our diver count to over 275 and over 525 entries!!! Thank you all for your hard work, dedication and long hours for a very successful invitational.  Here's to looking forward to next year!!!

 
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