Three divers are set to lead the Irish to a strong start at the Big East Championship this weekend in Pittsburgh.
Junior divers Nathan Geary and Wes Villaflor along with freshman Ryan Koter will compete in the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events against the best competition in the Big East, but Irish coach Tim Welsh said he still expects his trio of divers to thrive in the championship.
"Obviously we want our divers to do well. We expect all divers to score," Welsh said. "We'd like to have two of our three divers score in the top eight and make it to the championship. All three of them making it in would be a dream scenario, but to have two in the championships and one in the consolation round is our expectation."
Each diver will complete six dives in both events, five of which will be front, back, reverse, inward and twist, while the sixth dive will be a second dive in one of those categories.
Once each dive is completed, a technical score is multiplied by a degree of difficulty to obtain a score for each dive. At the end of the six dives, the top eight scoring divers advance to the championship round and the next eight advancing to a consolation round. Welsh said it is essential that the divers start the Championship off on the right foot for the Irish.
"We hope they get us off to a great start. They're really looking forward to it as well," Welsh said. "There is ultimately one champion, but these two events will be scored and then the teams will head into the swimming portion, which is next week."
With a massive blizzard slamming the Eastern portion of the United States, Welsh expressed relief that his divers are already in Pittsburgh and focused on the weekend's events.
"I spoke to them on the phone recently," Welsh said. "They are all settled and ready to go. I'll be heading out there on Saturday."
The preliminary rounds for the men begin on Saturday morning with the championship and consolation rounds slated for Sunday at Trees Pool on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.
